On Sept. 7, Liberal Democratic Party Vice-President Masahiko Komura chatted with reporters in the Iranian capital of Teheran and told them that it was desirable to propose a motion for constitutional revision before the dissolution of the House of Representative followed by a general election.

Currently, the constitutional revision camp maintains over two-thirds of the seats in both the Lower and Upper Houses, but approval ratings for the Abe administration have remained low and the camp may not be able to maintain the two-thirds in the next general election. Komura said, “It would be easier to propose a motion for constitutional revision while the camp maintains the two-thirds majority. In this way, Komura indicated that the revision camp will propose a motion at an ordinary Diet session next year.

Regarding revising Article 9 of the constitution by adding a provision that justifies the existing Self-Defense Forces, Komura said, “It would be better to add easy-to-understand language on “the Self-Defense Forces” to the article.