PERMANENT DISPATCH LAW: POLITICAL CONSULTATIONS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TOKYO 000216 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/28/2018 TAGS: PREL PGOV MOPS UN JA SUBJECT: PERMANENT DISPATCH LAW: POLITICAL CONSULTATIONS CONTINUE TOKYO 00000216 001.2 OF 002 Classified By: Ambassador J. Thomas Schieffer per 1.4 (b/d) Summary -------------- ¶1. (C) The government and ruling Liberal Democratic Party continue to lay the groundwork for passing a Permanent Dispatch Law that would allow Japan to send Self-Defense Forces units overseas in support of peacekeeping operations, according to Ambassador Toshiro Ozawa, head of Japan's International Peace Cooperation Office. This law would obviate the need for the kind of mission-specific legislation with time limits that has heretofore been the legal basis for certain overseas activities, including OEF refueling operations. The government and ruling Liberal Democratic Party are holding discussions with ruling coalition partner Komeito, whose traditional pacifist stance on national security issues has made them chary of granting too wide a latitude on dispatching the SDF. Ironically, the opposition Democratic Party of Japan and LDP are not far apart on this issue, but the current DOMESTIC political situation may prevent them from realizing what in principle they basically agree Japan needs. End Summary. Draft Permanent Dispatch Law Legislation -------------- ¶2. (C) The Japanese Government continues to lay the groundwork for the passage of a Permanent Dispatch Law, which would allow Japan to send Self-Defense Forces units overseas in support of peacekeeping operations without relying on Special Measures Laws and other legislation with specific time limits, Ambassador Toshiro Ozawa, Director General of the Cabinet Office's International Peace Cooperation Headquarters, told Embassy Tokyo on January 25. By way of background, Ozawa explained that former Chief Cabinet Secretary (and current Prime Minister) Fukuda established the SIPDIS office to provide Japan with surer and more enduring legal footing on which to increase Japan's participation in international peacekeeping operations. With the loss of the Diet's Upper House to the opposition in July 2007, the recent legislative back-and-forth surrounding OEF-related refueling operations could become an annual affair, all the more reason for why Japan needs a Permanent Dispatch Law, Ozawa explained. ¶3. (C) By mid-2006, the office had drafted 60 pages of detailed legislation on the scope and modalities of Japan's participation in international peacekeeping operations. The draft legislation was forwarded to the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's (LDP) Defense Policy Subcommittee, which subsequently endorsed the legislation. However, the legislation stopped there, and was not further coordinated within the party's Defense and Foreign Affairs Committees, nor with the LDP's Policy Affairs Research Council, Ozawa said. Political Consultations -------------- ¶4. (C) Beginning in October 2007, the government and LDP made a renewed push for the law, and Prime Minister Fukuda consulted with both opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) head Ichiro Ozawa and ruling coalition partner Komeito head Akihiro Ota, Ambassador Ozawa continued. Komeito's traditional pacifist stance on national security issues has required lengthy consultations, and Ozawa and his staff have met twice already this month with Komeito leadership to discuss general PKO issues, the draft law's legal and constitutional basis regarding the use of force and the role of the Diet in the decisionmaking process. Once these consultations are complete, the goal is for the LDP and Komeito to have a joint meeting, perhaps in February, to discuss and reach agreement on a draft law. ¶5. (C) Although the ruling and opposition parties are far apart on many issues, they are more or less on the same page regarding the need for a Permanent Dispatch Law, DPJ Diet member and national security expert Akihisa Nagashima told Embassy Tokyo on January 24. That said, although the two sides should in principle be able to reach some kind of accord on the draft law's contents, the current political TOKYO 00000216 002.2 OF 002 situation makes it difficult to say whether they will actually be able to do so. Peace Cooperation HQ DG Ozawa echoed Nagashima's point, noting that with the possibility of a general election this year, "it is still unclear what we will be able to achieve." SCHIEFFER