Japan PM to push for troop deployment law
TOKYO (AFP) — Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda said Tuesday he would push for a permanent law to enable Japan to deploy troops abroad, despite its pacifist constitution that limits its military activities.
Japan has to pass temporary laws for each mission overseas such as supplying fuel to support the US-led "war on terror" in Afghanistan and helping war-torn Iraq in its reconstruction efforts.
"I wish to draw up a bill and have it debated during the current session of parliament," Fukuda told reporters at his executive office.
He added that there were supporters of such legislation within the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan as well as the ruling party. "As the Democratic Party has proposed debating the bill for some time, I wish to do it by all means."
The current 150-day parliamentary session will end in mid June.
Japan's US-inspired post-war constitution bans the use of force in settling international disputes. It has been interpreted to mean that Japan can only fight for its own defence and not fight for its allies in foreign wars.
But Japan, a key US ally in the Pacific, has dispatched naval ships to the Indian Ocean for the refuelling mission to support military action in Afghanistan since the September 11 attacks.
For two-and-a-half years until July 2006, Japan also deployed ground troops in southern Iraq to help in rebuilding efforts. It was the first Japanese military deployment since World War II in a country where fighting was underway.
The Democratic Party was founded in 1998 to group politicians with varying political views as a major force to match the long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), conservative despite its name.
It is currently headed by former LDP strongman Ichiro Ozawa, known for his advocacy of a strong national defence.
