Scandal clouds Abe’s chance of changing constitution

Bloomberg

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe reiterated his apology on Sunday for a cronyism scandal as opposition lawmakers warned it would hamper his ambitions of changing the country’s pacifist constitution.
Public anger over the revelation that Finance Ministry officials doctored documents relating to the discounted sale of public land to a school operator with connections to Abe’s wife sent his poll numbers plummeting a week ago. Speaking at his ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s annual convention, Abe vowed to ensure such actions would not be allowed to happen again.
“Ultimate responsibility for the administration lies with me,” he said, pledging to carry out his “responsibility to rebuild the system.”
Despite the setback, he told lawmakers the time was right to tackle a proposed change to the constitution and “put an end to the argument” that Japan’s Self-Defense Forces are unconstitutional.
While Abe has said he wants cross-party agreement on constitutional revision, which requires a two-thirds majority in both houses of parliament before it can go to a national referendum, his plans met with criticism from potential allies on Sunday.
“The Moritomo problem must be calmed down before we can change the constitution,” Toranosuke Katayama, joint leader of the opposition Japan Innovation Party, told national broadcaster NHK. Speaking on the same program, Toshio Ogawa, of the separate opposition Democratic Party, said talk of changing the charter looked like
“an attempt to change the subject” from the scandal.