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| Prime Minister Shinzo Abe |
TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's comments Thursday about altering the Japanese Constitution suggest he has changed his mind on a plan to get a proposed amendment submitted to parliament this fall, a senior member of his Liberal Democratic Party said.
At a press conference Thursday after reshuffling his Cabinet and key posts in the LDP, Abe said debate on the Constitution "is not dependent on any schedule."
LDP Executive Acting Secretary General Koichi Hagiuda, who was deputy chief Cabinet secretary prior to the reshuffle, told reporters later Thursday that Abe "has changed course" on his plan to submit a proposal in the next extraordinary Diet session.
Abe had said in recent months he wants his party to submit proposals on reform so they can be discussed during an extraordinary session likely to be convened in the fall, and that he hopes the resulting amendment would come into force in 2020.
Read the full story at The Mainichi