Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expressed his strong desire to see a new Constitution take effect in 2020 and the presence of the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) specified in its Article 9, in a video message unveiled at a meeting of a group in favor of constitutional amendment in Tokyo on May 3.
It was the first time for Abe -- a strong proponent of constitutional revision -- to mention the target year for enforcing a revised supreme law.
"I strongly desire to make 2020 the year when a new Constitution is put into force," Abe said in the video message, where he spoke in his capacity as the president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).
In regard to war-renouncing Article 9 of the current Constitution, Abe argued for adding a new clause specifying the existence of the SDF while upholding the article's first and second paragraphs that renounce war and ban Japan from maintaining the potential for war, respectively.
"The SDF's existence should firmly be defined in the Constitution," Abe said, adding, "The idea of specifying the SDF while maintaining the first and second paragraphs is worth being put to national debate."
Read the full story at The Mainichi