The 18th century Francophone philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau wrote the following in "The Social Contract" in criticizing parliamentary politics: "The people of England regards itself as free; but it is grossly mistaken; it is free only during the election of members of parliament. As soon as they are elected, slavery overtakes it, and it is nothing."
This criticism by Rousseau can be applied to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, particularly his betrayal of the Japanese people in his discussion regarding the Constitution. Since the beginning of this year, Abe has expressed his eagerness to revise the Constitution, especially the war-renouncing Article 9, and said he wanted to secure the two-thirds majority in the Upper House that is needed to initiate a constitutional amendment.
However, Abe and his Liberal Democratic Party never touched on the issue during the campaign for the July 10 Upper House election. He essentially escaped from the topic as opposition parties built their campaign cooperation on their common cause of preventing revision of the Constitution.