With passage of the government's national security bills through the Lower House coming into sight, deliberations on counterproposals submitted by the two largest opposition parties kicked off Friday at a special Lower House committee, in parallel with the state-sponsored legislation.
Ishin no To (Japan Innovation Party) and the Democratic Party of Japan have demanded the ruling camp provide sufficient time to discuss their bills alongside the government's legislation in the committee. But the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito plan to ram the state-sponsored bills through the Lower House as early as July 16.
The three alternative bills — two submitted by Ishin and one jointly by Ishin and the DPJ — impose tougher conditions on the use of force by the Self-Defense Forces in certain situations. Unlike the government's bills that would remove geographical limits for the SDF to provide logistical support to foreign forces, Ishin's bills limits such mission to take place only in "areas around Japan."