Two bills to implement the new Japanese-U.S. defense guidelines were presented Friday to the ruling tripartite alliance, paving the way for the Self-Defense Forces to take unprecedented military roles in contingencies in areas surrounding Japan.
The Liberal Democratic Party and its two small non-Cabinet allies -- the Social Democratic Party and New Party Sakigake -- will soon discuss details of the bills for possible submission to the current Diet session by the end of this month.
Because the bills includes controversial elements, such as possibility of SDF acting with the U.S. military as one body, and of forced use of local facilities by the state, the legislation is likely to spur heated debates, with the SDP and other members of the ruling block opposing to what they consider unconstitutional elements.