The results of the Lower House election to be held on Sunday will have a great impact on the future and general posture of Japan as well as Japan's standing in the international community. Voters cannot be too careful in deciding which party to support.
The political parties' stances on the Constitution, especially regarding the war-renouncing Article 9, and the right to collective self-defense are especially important points. Unfortunately these issues were not adequately discussed during the election campaign.
The traditional interpretation by the government has been that the Constitution prohibits the exercise of the right to collective self-defense. Changes to Article 9 and to the government's interpretation of the right to collective self-defense would shatter the trust Japan has gained from the international community through its adherence to its constitutional no-war principle in the decades that followed the end of World War II. Such changes would only contribute to the destabilization of East Asia.