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On April 17, DPJ President Katsuya Okada held his regular press conference at party headquarters. He first commented on the party stance toward the ruling parties’ proposed national security legislation, stating, “Our internal discussion of the issue is proceeding well, and what remains is the issue of exercising the right to collective self-defense.” He added, “Of course we can’t say for sure how things will go until we start discussions, but I would like [DPJ General Research Committee of Security Chair Toshimi Kitazawa] to work hard to develop a direction [on this issue] during April.” Okada pointed out, “Even if this Diet session is extended for a while, there is still too much on the agenda for it all to be dealt with in such a short period. I was involved in the establishment of the PKO Act as a member of the relevant Diet committee, and it took a huge amount of debate. I hear that the ruling parties are suggesting that 80 hours are sufficient [to debate the security legislation], but if we look at the content, I believe that a great deal of time is going to be needed for discussion in order to obtain the understanding of the public.”
Okada went on to criticize the government proposal, saying, “We are hearing phrases such as ‘incidents which threaten the existence of Japan’ or ‘incidents that have a serious impact on Japan’s security’, but it is extremely difficult to work out what the difference between these is from the current debate…With the majority of the Japanese people saying that they do not really understand the content of the proposal, it is fundamentally wrong for the ruling parties to push on unilaterally with security legislation that includes a change in the interpretation of the Constitution.”
Okada also touched on reports that Prime Minister Abe intends to make a proposal regarding the Guidelines for Japan-U.S. Defense Cooperation to the United States side and obtain agreement on it during his upcoming visit to the U.S. He expressed concern, stating, “For the heads of states of Japan and the U.S. to come to an agreement that encompasses a change to the interpretation of the Constitution without any sort of explanation to the Japanese people, and with the citizens of Japan totally unaware of what is going on, is an abnormal state of affairs…What is the purpose of the Diet? A situation which should not be permissible in a democracy is about to occur.”
Okada also commented on the questioning of executives from broadcasters NHK and TV Asahi by an LDP sub-committee that same day concerning allegations of fabrication of material. He urged the governing parties to take care, saying, “Reporters from other nations must feel that government interference is having an extremely serious impact on the freedom of the press. This behavior will directly affect the issue of how Japan is judged as a nation, and so I would urge the government to tread very cautiously…We believe that Japan is a good nation, which protects the freedom of speech, but we need to be careful of the fact that we are in danger of being perceived as anything but by Western nations.”
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