TOKYO - In a huge showing of public condemnation of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his ruling bloc's forcing through two constitutionally unsound security bills through a special lower house parliamentary committee Wednesday ahead of a full session vote, thousands gathered at the national Diet building to protest the move.
Following a sizable protest on Tuesday, as deliberations between Abe's ruling Liberal Democratic Party-led coalition and opposition parties and their respective experts made zero headway, the Abe-led regime decided that enough time had been spent trying to appease the public through parliamentary debate, and the bills were rammed through the special committee in the lower house on Wednesday.
Following a majority vote Thursday in a full session in Japan's lower house, the contentious bills will be immediately sent to the upper house to be enacted before the end of the current Diet session in late September, a scenario that is highly likely, as Abe's ruling coalition hold a majority of seats in both houses of Japan's bicameral parliament.