TOKYO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st June, 2020) Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has reiterated his desire to hold a referendum on changes to the country's constitution before September 2021, when his tenure as head of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party expires.
"I have one year and three months left as chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party and I would like to hold a referendum before this deadline," Abe said during an appearance on the NewsBAR Hashimoto online program, hosted by former Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto.
Abe has sought to add a reference to Japan's Self-Defense Forces in the constitution to provide legal clarity.
Article 9 of Japan's post-World War II constitution strictly limits the country's military capabilities, although Abe has campaigned for years to revise and amend the document. In 2014, the Japanese cabinet adopted a resolution that would permit the country's troops to engage in combat abroad in the name of collective self-defense.
On Friday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Japan's constitutional right to self-defense would allow the country's military to strike enemy bases located abroad if no other alternatives were available.
