Japan may set 2-stage approval by Cabinet over collective self-defense

Japan may set a two-stage approval process for the Cabinet before lifting the self-imposed ban on exercising the right to collective self-defense, ruling party sources said Thursday, as the outlook remains uncertain for the ruling bloc to reach an early agreement over the controversial issue. The New Komeito party has proposed to the Liberal Democratic Party of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that the Cabinet first approve a roadmap of legal challenges that need to be tackled, and then what steps Japan will take, including reinterpreting the Constitution to allow the exercise of the right to collective self-defense, the sources added. The two-stage process would enable the government to make necessary preparations to draft legislation after the first stage, while New Komeito can buy time and put off what could be the most contentious issue of deciding whether Japan should defend allies under armed attack in collective self-defense. The plan has been floated as a compromise for the ruling parties to avoid a rift and some LDP lawmakers have expressed their support, although the government has yet to give the nod, according to the sources. Tokyo is seeking early approval in time for the planned revision to Japan-U.S. defense cooperation guidelines by the end of the year, and hopes to revise relevant laws from an extraordinary Diet session in the fall. In the first round of approval, the Cabinet would recognize a set of domestic legal challenges in three major areas -- how to handle "gray zone" incidents that are not considered full-fledged military attacks on Japan, U.N. peacekeeping and collective security operations, and whether to exercise the right to collective self-defense, the sources said. The LDP and the junior coalition partner New Komeito started their debate earlier this week on reworking Japan's legal framework amid security threats from an assertive China and North Korea's nuclear and missile development programs. The parties have already decided to focus on "gray zone" incidents first, rather than tackling the controversial issue of collective self-defense from the start. Some New Komeito lawmakers have suggested the ruling bloc should not wait until they can agree on all of the three areas to start drafting legislation, but the LDP has insisted that the three should be a package. Prime Minister Abe is seeking to secure the support of the ruling parties for lifting the self-imposed ban by a Cabinet decision, but New Komeito remains cautious about reinterpreting the war-renouncing Article 9 of the Constitution that has never been amended since 1947. Japan has maintained it has the right to collective self-defense but cannot exercise it due to the constraints of Article 9. In a report submitted to Abe last week, a panel of security experts argued that collective self-defense falls under "the minimum" level of defense allowed under the supreme law and called for changing the current interpretation. ==Kyodo Copyright 2014 Kyodo News International. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/kyodo-news-international/140522/japan-may-set-2-stage-approval-cabinet-over-collective