The government is looking at drafting a new law to set up the legal procedures for collective self-defense and to make Diet approval mandatory for Japan to exercise the U.N.-declared right, a source said Saturday.
The new law would be designed to serve two purposes, the government source said. One is to give the Diet the power to block military action, and the other is to help the ruling Liberal Democratic Party win support from the opposition parties, as well as its Buddhist-backed coalition partner New Komeito, which fears that permitting collective defense would put Japan at risk of being dragged into a war waged by other countries.
Nationalist Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is pushing to change the government's interpretation of the U.S.-drafted Constitution to allow the use of collective self-defense, which would enable Japan to come to the aid of an ally under armed attack.