LDP Calls For Drafting Constitutional Amendment, Eyeing Emergency Clause and Status of SDF

The Yomiuri Shimbun

6:00 JST, April 11, 2026

Three parties, including the Liberal Democratic Party, called for the establishment of a drafting committee to produce draft provisions for revising the Constitution at a meeting of the House of Representatives Commission on the Constitution on Thursday.

Seven parties presented their views during the current Diet session’s first substantive debate at the commission. The LDP, the Japan Innovation Party and the Democratic Party for the People sought an emergency clause to extend the terms of Diet members during disasters and other critical situations.

The substantive debate, the first since last December, was also attended by the Centrist Reform Alliance, Sanseito, Team Mirai and the Japanese Communist Party.

The LDP’s Yoshitaka Shindo, the chief director of the commission for the ruling bloc, advocated for an emergency clause and for a provision to be included in the war-renouncing Article 9 to clarify the legal basis for the Self-Defense Forces.

“I propose that we move into the process of considering the drafting of articles one by one for themes whose points of contention have been sorted out,” Shindo said.

The JIP and the DPFP also called for starting work on drafting provisions for a constitutional amendment.

The CRA’s Toru Kunishige, the chief director for the opposition bloc, said: “It is not desirable to let [the debate] stagnate unnecessarily. We should conduct fruitful discussions.”

Citing the importance of democratic control, he called for deeper discussions on an emergency clause and the explicit mention of the SDF in the Constitution.

Sanseito expressed strong opposition to the inclusion of measures against the spread of infectious diseases in an emergency clause.

Meanwhile, Team Mirai insisted that procedural issues and the substance of the debate should be kept separate. The JCP maintained its opposition to revising the Constitution.