Abe secures win without supermajority

Ruling coalition maintains control of upper house, falls short of key threshold

A majority of Japanese are not in favor of changing Japan's "Pacifist" Constitution, politicians and experts said as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe fell short of a supermajority, although his party still won the most votes in Sunday's upper house election.

"An important outcome of this election is that pro-amendment forces failed to get two-thirds of the seats," said Tadatomo Yoshida, who was reelected councilor in the election. The former leader of Japan's Social Democratic Party said defending the Constitution's Pacifist Article 9 is of crucial significance not only to Japan but also to other Asian countries.

"As a councilor, I will resolutely oppose the revision of Article 9 in the future, and strive to enhance friendly relations with Asian countries," Yoshida told China Daily.

Article 9 forbids Japan from maintaining a war-capable military and waging wars. It was regarded as the pillar of the country's pacifist image and was believed by many as a main contributor to Japan's postwar prosperity.

"Abe and his pro-amendment forces are not popular among the people as constitutional revision supporters have never been more than half in all kinds of polls," said Zhou Weisheng, a professor at the College of Policy Science at Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto.

"Defending the Article 9 and more urgent issues such as weak economy, tax hike and fast aging society are setbacks for Abe," Zhou added.

On Sunday, Abe's ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito, secured 71 out of the 124 seats up for grabs in the 245-member House of Councilors. Abe will become the nation's longest-serving prime minister in November.

Lawmakers favoring an amendment to Article 9 now have a total of 160 seats, falling short of the 164 or two-thirds needed to initiate a Pacifist Constitution change.

"This means Abe's long-cherished ambition of constitutional reform moved further out of his reach as he will then have to face almost impossible task of winning support from opposition parties to achieve his goal," said Yu Qiang, a researcher of Japanese studies at the University of International Relations in Beijing.

"It also showed that Japanese people still want to protect Article 9," Yu said.

In a poll conducted by Japan's public broadcaster NHK five days before the election, 32 percent out of the 2,083 respondents didn't support constitutional change, while those who supported it accounted for 29 percent.

"Young people tend to support a revision because they think the Constitution is out of date but the elderly, especially those who had a reflection on the past wars, are strong pacifist holders," Zhou from Ritsumeikan University said.

Having failed to secure two-thirds majority, Abe focused on the bright side of the campaign.

"Everyone said it would be no easy task to get a majority while promising a tax hike, but I think we were able to get the public's understanding," he told NHK. "We've secured a mandate to steadily carry out our policies."

At the same time, Abe reaffirmed his hope of amending the Constitution. "I would like to achieve (the constitutional reform) somehow during my term," Abe said.

"I hope that opposition parties will fulfill their responsibility (to engage in such a debate)."