Japanese multi-party parliamentary Constitutional Commission to resume talks

The Constitution Commission of the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of Japan's Diet, will resume its discussions next month, following a 17-month hiatus, it was learned Thursday.  Senior members of the commission said they decided to examine the process of the formulation of the Japanese Constitution and developments in the 70 years after its proclamation on Nov. 10. The commission will also hold another meeting on Nov. 17 to discuss constitutionalism and limits of constitutional revisions as well as systems to screen constitutionality of laws. The commission meetings will be attended by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, its coalition partner, Komeito, the main opposition Democratic Party and three other opposition parties--the Japanese Communist Party, Nippon Ishin no Kai and the Social Democratic Party. In meetings held by the commission in June last year, all experts, including those invited by the ruling camp, said that national security bills introduced by the administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe were unconstitutional. As a result, Diet debates on the Constitution stalled. The bills were enacted and the new legislation, which allows Japan to exercise the right to collective self-defense, came into force in March this year. Original Source: