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Summary of the arguments on “abdication”
As for the “abdication” of Emperor Akihito
the arguments of discussion have been narrowed down.
Along with the passing away of Emperor Showa
Emperor Akihito signed the ordinance regarding the new era name “Heisei”
this was the photo for that moment.
And 28 years since then…
The discussions over the “abdication” of the 83-year-old Emperor
had a great move today.
The panel on the discussion of “abdication”
had thus far conducted nine rounds of meetings,
today the panel members summarised their arguments and reported them to Prime Minister Abe.
From the era of Meiji, the succession to throne took place
when the Emperors “passed away”.
The biggest point of debate is whether the “abdication” will be applicable to
“all future Emperors”, or
“only to Emperor Akihito, a one-time provision”.
According to the opinion poll conducted by NNN during 20 – 22 January 2017
“It is good to make amendment so that abdication in the future would be allowed”
was responded by 69.8% of respondents,
“It is good to create a system for one-time provision”
was responded by 20.9% of respondents.
The majority of respondents looked for
a system which “abdication” for future Emperors is allowed.
Then, what arguments did the report of the panel meeting summarise?
Firstly, “abdication is applicable to all future Emperors”
which is supported by the majority in the opinion poll.
Opinion supporting this proposition such as
“The issue of elderly Emperor may occur again in the future”
is mentioned.
On the other hand, the careful opinion such as
“The situation surrounding the Emperor such as
the age difference between the Emperor and the successor, the political and social state of affairs, as well as the awareness of citizens may change”
is pointed out.
On the other side, the occasion that
the abdication is “one-time provision” to Emperor Akihito.
The opinion supporting this proposition is
“The consideration of the Emperor and the public opinion of individual era varies”
“The decision made by the Diet in individual era
can best reflect the opinion of the citizens”
There is such opinion.
On the other hand, the careful opinion is
this time, the standard and requirement of abdication is not clearly stated
“It is also possible for the administration of individual era to force an arbitrary abdication”
In brief, it is possible to be influenced
by political speculation.
In fact regarding the “quantity of words” of this report
there is a remarkable feature.
This is the part of the report which
discussed “abdication is applicable to all future Emperors”.
The arguments on the left of the red line is “supportive opinion”,
those on the right side is “careful opinion”.
As comparison
compared with the opinion supportive towards abdication being applicable to all future Emperors,
the careful opinion holds an overwhelming large quantity.
When incorporating the number of opinion
the number of “supportive opinion” is “10” while
there is times of “careful opinion” which is “23”.
As a whole a proposition that the abdication should not be applicable to “all future Emperors” but
only a “one-time provision” is revealed in the contents of the report
which is different from the voice of citizens reflected from the opinion poll.
The report this time is, prepared as a reference for future discussions
base on this the government and the Diet will come up with the final solution.
This debate is related to the era of Heisei as well as future Japan
I hope that the opinion of the young generation would definitely be taken into account as well.
Source: News Zeroイチメン (http://www.ntv.co.jp/zero/ichimen/2017/01/post-332.html)