During a Lower House budget committee debate on May 8, Akira Nagatsuma of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) asked Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to clarify remarks he had recently made about revising the Constitution. On May 3, which happened to be Constitution Day, Abe had delivered a message via prerecorded video to the conservative lobbying group Nippon Kaigi (Japan Conference) and also appeared in an interview in the Yomiuri Shimbun. In both he talked of establishing the Self-Defense Forces and free education in the Constitution, and Nagatsuma wanted to know more. Abe dismissed his query, saying he explained the matter to the Yomiuri so Nagatsuma should just read the interview.
The remark caused a stir. NHK reported that the DP lodged a formal protest afterward and that several LDP lawmakers backed the protest. DP President Renho said Abe's refusal to explain himself to the public was an abrogation of his responsibility and an "insult" to the legislators. JCast news commented that the DP has the right to shut down a planned meeting in the Diet on the Constitution, adding that Abe's contempt for parliamentary protocol was yet another example of his arrogance.
Some media speculated that Abe's idea to incorporate free public education into the Constitution is a ploy to satisfy Nippon Ishin no Kai, which is advocating for such an amendment. Abe needs the party's support in order to guarantee the two-thirds parliamentary majority required to pass constitutional changes, and so he's giving it to them.