On June 9, DP President Renho issued the following statement.
Today, the Imperial Household Special Measures Law Concerning the Emperor’s Abdication and Related Issues passed the Diet after being approved in a plenary session of the House of Councillors.
The Constitution of Japan states that The Emperor shall be the symbol of the State and of the unity of the People. His position derives from the will of the people with whom sovereign power resides. As befits these words, this legislation has been drafted in conjunction with the collective will of the legislature, under the authority of the leaders and deputy leaders of both Houses of the Diet, and in response to this, the government-sponsored legislation has been submitted and passed by the Diet. We recognize this as an extremely significant act, which will leave its mark in the history of Japan’s constitutional government.
The DP has reacted ahead of any other political parties, producing our “Examination of the arguments regarding the imperial succession and other issues” in December of last year. His Majesty the Emperor ended his message to the nation issued on August 8, 2016 with the words, “I sincerely hope for the Japanese people’s understanding”. We have taken the Emperor’s words extremely seriously and based them as the starting point for our debate. Consequently, we have established our position as being that of revising the actual provisions relating to the imperial household so as to include the provision that “Once the imperial heir has reached adulthood, the Emperor may choose to abdicate if he so desires, by submitting the matter to the Imperial Household Council”.
While continuing to put forward our position on this issue, we have put all our efforts into reaching an agreement reflecting the collective will of the legislature that represents the Japanese people.
There was a danger that the outcome of this issue would be decided by discussions behind closed doors, in line with the views of the “expert panel on reducing the burdens of official duties on the Emperor”. However, a general meeting of Diet members belonging to all parties and caucuses was convened under the authority of the leaders and deputy leaders of both Houses, engendering a common understanding that cross-party boundaries, and the legislature’s final proposal also reflected the DP’s position to the greatest extent possible. We would like to express our deepest appreciation for the tireless efforts of the leaders and deputy leaders of both Houses, and the Diet members of all parties and caucuses who have been involved in this debate.
The inclusion of a specific reference to the “creation of imperial family branches by female members” in the supplementary resolution, is in line with the final proposal produced by the leaders and deputy leaders of both Houses, and is also consistent with the DP’s original position on this issue. In the Diet deliberation, we were able to obtain assurances from the government regarding the main issues that we have pointed out such as “this can serve as a precedent in future” and “the legislation will be implemented without delay”.
This legislation will enable the Emperor to abdicate and his heir to succeed to the throne, but we must continue to work together to resolve various significant issues regarding the imperial family and the imperial succession, in particular the need to ensure the stable continuation of the imperial family.
While acknowledging that succession to the imperial throne has historically been through the male line, we note that public duties have been concentrated on the Emperor and certain other members of the imperial family, due to the increasing age of some members and the fact that various female members of the imperial family have relinquished their status following marriage to commoners. We believe that we should promptly consider what measures can be taken to maintain the activities of the imperial family and to deal with the difficulties of ensuring there are sufficient heirs eligible to succeed to the imperial throne.
The DP believes that female members of the imperial family should be able to maintain their position following marriage and that the provisions regarding the imperial household should be revised to allow the establishment of imperial family branches by such female members.
Our party wishes to see the continued prosperity of the imperial family. As such we are resolved to make every effort to fully support the symbolic emperor system that is at the heart of our nation, while ensuring that we acknowledge the feelings of the Emperor and Empress and other members of the imperial family.