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Mon Jul 7, 2014, 06:05 AM
bananas (24,802 posts)

Can Japan’s democracy survive Abe’s designs?

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2014/07/07/commentary/japan-commentary/can-japans-democracy-survive-abes-designs/

Can Japan’s democracy survive Abe’s designs?
by William Pesek
Bloomberg
Jul 7, 2014

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While extreme, Yamashiro’s fury isn’t uncommon. One day later, thousands demonstrated outside Abe’s residence against this “reinterpretation” of a constitution that he lacks the votes to amend. Public opposition didn’t stop Abe’s Cabinet from rubber-stamping his semantic end run around the law, which raises a vital question: Will Japan’s democracy survive Abe?

For the third time since taking office in December 2012 Abe did exactly what all too many of his 126 million people oppose. Earlier, he rushed into law a controversial secrecy bill that could send reporters and whiste-blowers to jail on varied and ambiguous grounds, then he pushed to restart reactors shut on safety grounds after the March 2011 Fukushima disaster.

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Along with the secrecy law, Abe stacked the board of national broadcaster NHK with like-minded conservatives. NHK, it’s worth adding, barely covered the suicide attempt in Shinjuku on Sunday, June 29. Is it because it didn’t fit with the Abe narrative?

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