March 19, 2016

VOX POPULI: On a precarious slide to utter disrespect of all Japan stands for

http://ajw.asahi.com/article/views/vox/AJ201603190019

Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a daily column that runs on Page 1 of The Asahi Shimbun.

At a news conference on March 17, top officials of Kankeiren (Kansai Economic Federation) pulled no punches in criticizing the Otsu District Court's March 9 injunction ordering the shutdown of the No. 3 and No. 4 nuclear reactors at the Takahama power station operated by Kansai Electric Power Co.

As a group that represents the interests of the regional business community, Kankeiren obviously has its own case to make. However, I was quite taken aback by some of the remarks officials made to reporters.

The vice chairman, Kazuo Sumi, said at the outset that he was angered by the court's decision, and then thundered, "How is it possible for a judge of a mere district court to throw a monkey wrench into our nation's energy policy?"

Sumi went on to call for "speedy legal revision to ensure that something like this will never happen again."

No court decision can be expected to satisfy all of the people all of the time. But even so, I must say that Sumi's remarks amounted to utter contempt of one of the three branches of government. Essentially, what he said was this: "If the judiciary doesn't do what the administration says, the legislature must take care of that."

If this sort of reasoning came from his lack of understanding of what the separation of powers is all about, that is a truly sorry state of affairs.

A reporter at the news conference tried to nail down Sumi's intent by pointing out that his remarks were "rather extreme." But Sumi apparently meant exactly what he said, as he stuck to his guns.

Still, he would not have said "a mere district court" with contempt, had he ever thought about Article 76 of the Constitution that provides: "All judges shall be independent in the exercise of their conscience and shall be bound only by this Constitution and the laws."

But where contempt of the Constitution is concerned, the current coalition government has an even worse track record. The manner in which the Abe administration enacted the highly questionable national security legislation is only one example.

And let's not forget how the administration ignored demands by the opposition parties last autumn for the convocation of an extraordinary session of the Diet under Article 53.

The snub was all the more outrageous because the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's draft of a revised Constitution spelled out that the Cabinet is required to call an extraordinary Diet session within 20 days of the demand.

Not only the judiciary, but the legislature--the supreme organ of government--was also treated with contempt.

This is what Japan has become under the Abe administration, and this just cannot be right.

--The Asahi Shimbun, March 19

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.