Sri Lanka seeks new funding sources in shift away from ally China

 

BY SHIHAR ANEEZ- Wed Jul 15, 2015

Sri Lanka is seeking cheaper funding sources to replace billions of dollars in debt from Chinese banks, government officials said, as the six-month-old government distances itself from Beijing weeks before a general election.

    The government is seeking to consolidate its power in the Aug. 17 vote after reformer Maithripala Sirisena was elected president in January. The pro-China leader he ousted - Mahinda Rajapaksa - is staging a comeback bid.

    Sirisena had suspended most Chinese-backed infrastructure projects started under Rajapaksa, who has denied allegations of corruption and overpricing in contract awards.    Sirisena's reformist coalition is in talks to replace about 70 percent of the more than $5 billion in debt from Chinese lenders with loans at cheaper interest rates and longer durations from other sources, two finance ministry officials involved in the negotiations said.

    The move follows failed government efforts to negotiate more favourable terms with the Chinese banks, and the finance ministry is looking at options including borrowing from lenders in Japan, the United States or Europe, a top government official said.   

"Money is there at a cheaper rate and for a longer tenure," he said.

Sri Lanka has sought to pursue a more global foreign policy since the new government was formed, breaking with the previous pursuit of close ties with China.

Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake has been exploring ways his nation could borrow at lower rates after concluding from a trip to Japan this month that loans could be obtained for between 0.1 percent and 0.2 percent, a senior finance ministry official said.

    Sri Lanka's government has 16 ongoing Chinese-backed infrastructure projects which depend on $4 billion in borrowing from the Export-Import Bank of China (Exim Bank) and the rates of interest are between 2.5 percent and 9 percent, finance ministry data shows.    Chinese officials have said the rates of interest are only 2 percent. But the data shows there are extra fees that add to cost the servicing the loan.

The Chinese embassy in Colombo said it was unaware of the government's move to replace the loans. Embassy officials had earlier told Reuters that the government can't renegotiate the loan terms.

The Aug. 17 poll will likely see a battle between the current Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and Rajapaksa, who helped crush a 26-year insurgency against Tamil Tiger rebels in 2009 and who retains a strong following among the electorate.     

Allies say if Rajapaksa comes to power, he would immediately resume Chinese projects suspended by the Sirisena government.

($1 = 133.8000 Sri Lankan rupees)

(Writing by Andrew MacAskill; Editing by Douglas Busvine and Biju Dwarakanath)

Time To Say Enough Is Enough

By TU Senan –July 16, 2015

TU Senan

‘Reform’ could be the world’s most abused word. Its meaning was defined as “make changes in order to improve”. Now it has come to mean “to rip off, normally by stealth and sleight of hand”. The Greeks are forced to pay with their quality of life and even their lives for the so-called reform pushed by the Troikans. The right-wing Tory government in Britain hopes its reforms will undo generations of workers’ rights and improvements.

These processes reveal what Marxist political economists have long argued. That the state is an instrument of the class which has hegemony in a society – today that means it is the tool of capitalist class. In the name of ‘reforms’ the capitalist class pushes the state to punish the workers in order to save their bacon in this period of severe global economic crisis.

In the face of such a savage offensive the lack of opposition is staggering. The vast majority of the ruling parties – the so-called winnable parties – are capitalist parties who accept more or less all such ‘reforms’. They may differ slightly from this or that policy. Some once described themselves as social-democrats. But almost all of them share the same capitalist logic with no fundamental differences.

Modern democracy, we are told, provides a limited choice so we oscillate between supporting these parties. We are forced to choose between the Devil and Beelzebub, one promising to chop off one hand, the other promising to cut off ‘just’ one leg. It can be further “complicated” as they may also give us the choice of weapon – we can choose a knife or machete for the job, for example. What we are not allowed to debate, or discuss, let alone allowed to choose, is the alternative of rejecting and escaping this vicious cycle, limbs intact.

                           Read More

The Darley Road rebellion

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the head of the table at the SLFP’s Darley Road headquarters, flanked by the two General Secretaries of the SLFP and the UPFA

Friday, 17 July 2015

The pictures taken at the SLFP’s Darley Road headquarters on Wednesday have a déjà vu quality about them.
Mahinda Rajapaksa sits at the head of the table, in the biggest chair in the room. He is flanked by the two General Secretaries of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and the political coalition it leads, the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA). In one picture, SLFP General Secretary Anura Yapa stands like a sentinel on Rajapaksa’s left, a slightly deferential air about his posture.

The Darley Road Rebellion by Thavam Ratna

How a Rajapaksa comeback would shake up Sri Lankan politics

Sri Lanka's wartime president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, is set to contest in the August parliamentary election. But how would the return of the long-time leader impact the nation's politics? DW spoke to analyst Alan Keenan.

Gabriel Domínguez-15.07.2015

A coalition - formally headed by Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena - has nominated Rajapaksa to run in the upcoming parliamentary polls, due on August 17. The 69-year-old, considered a war hero by the country's majority Sinhalese for ending a three-decade civil war in 2009, will stand in the South Asian nation's third-largest electoral district, Kurunagala, where many voters have relatives in the military.

How a Rajapaksa Comeback Would Shake Up Sri Lankan Politics by Thavam Ratna

Titanic: The President’s Metaphor For The First Hundred Days

By Sarath De Alwis –July 16, 2015 

Sarath De Alwis

The President’s metaphor was valid both as noun and adjective. His party the SLFP was the ‘Titanic’ heading for collision with the Rajapaksa iceberg. Keeping the former ‘warlord’ appeased until the 19th Amendment was enacted was indeed a titanic task.

Radiating a sense of relaxed detachment President Maithripala Sirisenaexplained why he remained silent while the UPFA general secretary announced the ‘done deal’ of nominating ex-president Mahinda Rajapakse for a parliamentary slot. It was engineered by the two General Secretaries of the UPFA and the SLFP Messers Susil Premjayanth and Anura Priyadarshana Yapa.

In distancing himself from the SLFP and UPFA decision to field ex-presidentMahinda Rajapaksa as a candidate in the parliamentary elections, President Maithripala Sirisena compared his six months in the Presidency to the Captains Bridge of the Titanic that sank on its maiden voyage.
The sinking was the deadliest shipping disaster in peace time that killed more than 1500 or two thirds of its passengers.

“Steering the ship of state, in the last six months was akin to my being at the helm of the ‘Titanic’. But unlike the disastrous voyage of the cruise ship, I did not let the ship sink he said. Dismissing his predecessor’s current efforts to reverse the tide of history, the President seemed satisfied that he had steered the vessel of state in to the safety of a transit port to resume its journey from autocracy to democracy after the general election.

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Nirupama once again render her support to Maithri

Thursday, 16 July 2015

Maithripala Sirisena has able to create a crisis within the Rajapaksa family by giving her the chief organizer post for the Mulkirigala seat. Mahinda Rajapaksa kept Nirupama’s politics under his supervision and due to this she was disgusted with her paternal uncle Mahinda.

For the last presidential election Nirupama Rajapaksa supported Maithripala Sirisena. She was planning to step in to the Maithripala’s election platform during the last few days of the election. Although her businessmen husband Thiru Nadesan got help from the Rajapaksa
during his tenure he did not help to sustain the regime. Thiru nadesan offered large lump sum finances prevented the UPFA MP’s from crossing over to the opposition. However he told those MP’s if Mahinda wins you all will be in trouble.

Due to the long term family dispute between the D.A. Rajapaksa and D.M. Rajapaksa, the D.M. Rajapaksa family was ill treated by Mahinda Rajapaksa. It was quite visible during elections. Due to this George Rajapaksa’s daughter Nirupama Rajapaksa was continuously ill treated.

During the 1983 interim election Basil Rajapaksa started a smear campaign from the UNP platform against SLFP candidate Nirupama Rajapaksa and due to this Nirupama lost the election. In 1985 in another by election the Mulkirigala seat was acquired by Chamal
Rajapaksa chasing Nirupama.

The reason for this difference is that the D.M. Rajapaksa family is well qualified and the D.A. Rajapaksa family is a scapegoat. The family difference still remains the same and within the Rajapaksa pedigree the Mahinda Rajapaksa family is defined as scapegoats. The
big family knows how Mahinda’S three sons got academic and degree qualifications. Despite the fact the family knows how Mahinda Rajapaksa passed his law college exams.

Meantime three SLFP members got their electoral organizing posts today the 15th. They received their appointment letters from president Maithripala today at president secretariat.

The Puttalam SLFP electoral division was given to Victor Anthony Perera and the Kelaniya SLFP organizer post was given to Thilak Waragoda and Bulathsinhala SLFP organizer post was presented to R.P.Thusitha Kularathna.

Meantime North Central provincial council minister M. Herath Banda was appointed the organizer for the Horowpathana seat and Rohan Jayakody was appointed the organizer for the Kekirawa

SLFP counters MS; declares MR as campaign leader

Mahinda confers with UPFA leaders at SLFP hq

 By Shamindra Ferdinando-July 15, 2015

The SLFP yesterday strongly denied President Maithripala Sirisena’s accusation that the party had conspired to appoint former President Mahinda Rajapaksa to Parliament through the National List by moving a no-faith motion against Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

UPFA General Secretary Susil Premajayantha insisted that in accordance with the Parliamentary Elections Act of 1981, only a person named in the original National List submitted to the Elections Secretariat along with nominations for the last parliamentary election or an unsuccessful candidate at the same election could be appointed.

 Premajayantha was addressing the media at SLFP headquarters at T. B. Jayah Mawatha, following consultations with senior representatives of the UPFA presided over by former President Rajapaksa. The UPFA General Secretary was flanked by SLFP General Secretary Anura Priyadarshana Yapa and other party seniors, John Seneviratne, Dullas Alahapperuma and Kumara Welgama.

 Rajapaksa is leading the UPFA nomination list for the Kurunegala District.

 President Maithripala Sirisena on Tuesday alleged that the party had conspired to make his predecessor Prime Minister after having brought him in through the National List. The President claimed that he had dissolved parliament to thwart the Rajapaksa’s effort.

 Premajayantha said that the UPFA was going ahead with its campaign with the inaugural meeting taking place in Anuradhapura tomorrow (July 17). Premajayantha said that the former President would lead the campaign. Responding to a query, Premajayantha said that he, on behalf of the UPFA, had requested the former President to function as the Chairman of the Elections Operations Unit on July 3, 2015. The SLFP also released copies of the letter sent by Premajayantha to Mahinda Rajapaksa consequent to an understanding reached at a meeting presided over by President Maithripala Sirisena.

Premajayantha and other SLFP seniors pointed out that the former President had been asked to lead the campaign nearly two weeks before President Maithripala Sirisena’s Tuesday’s declaration that he would remain impartial.

Alahapperuma pointed out that President Sirisena had expressed a similar opinion in the run-up to the January 8 presidential poll and after.

Referring to President Sirisena’s call for Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran’s resignation over his alleged involvement in Central Bank bond scam, Premajayantha said that the caretaker government couldn’t turn a blind eye to the President’s declaration. Premjayantha asserted that the President wouldn’t have requested Premier Wickremesinghe to get rid of Mahendran if he hadn’t been convinced that the Governor was at fault.

Premajayantha said that he was a member of the 13-member parliamentary group that had inquired into the alleged bond scam.

 Premajayantha also condemned what he called Yahapalana government for calling for a national level election in the midst of GCE A/L examination in August. The UPFA General Secretary alleged thatYahapalana leaders had called for fresh elections to save the UNP at the expense of the student community.

Premajayantha said that the alliance would go flat out to secure a majority in next parliament under the leadership of former President Rajapaksa.

SLFP General Secretary Anura Priyadarshana Yapa spoke of efforts being made by seniors to iron out differences between the two warring factions since Maithripala Sirisena succeeded Mahinda Rajapaksa as the leader of the SLFP. Yapa stressed that their efforts were meant to unify the party to defeat the UNP at the next parliamentary elections. The top SLFP official expressed serious concern over some in the SLFP indirectly helping the UNP. When The Island asked whether he was commenting on President Maithripala Sirisena’s broadside at his predecessor, Yapa stressed the importance of preserving two-party system. Yapa said that one couldn’t undermine one’s own party to the benefit of the other.

SLFP seniors said that they would take up contentious matters with President Maithripala Sirisena at the relevant forum. They strongly denied claims that they were planning to remove Maithripala Sirisena in the immediate aftermath of his unprecedented attack. Yapa insisted that the SLFP wouldn’t discuss internal matters with the media. Instead take tangible actions to address issues, including disciplinary measures against party members contesting the parliamentary polls on the UNP ticket.

 Asked whether the party had been troubled by President’s move, particularly his declaration that Mahinda Rajapaksa would lose again, SLFP seniors insisted that 99 per cent of supporters remained loyal to the former President. They pointed out that they were in the fray under the former President’s leadership because they had faith in him. Welgama said that they were party seniors and they believed the former President should be the Prime Minister in the next parliament. 

Seneviratne pointed out that as President Maithripala Sirisena himself had declared that the next Premier would be selected after the election depending on the support he could muster from the parliamentary group, Rajapaksa wouldn’t have any difficulty. Welgama insisted that the party solidly stood behind the former leader.

 The SLFP said that in fact the President’s statement had galvanized the party overnight and the largest group in last parliament was ready to take up the challenge.

 Alahapperuma said that he was among those millions of supporters who had been shocked and shaken by President Maithripala Sirisena’s move. The former minister pointed out that the President had dissolved a parliament in which the UPFA had a clear majority in order to save the minority government. Alahapperuma said that the supporters were justified in suspecting whether the presidential statement was meant to give an advantage to the UNP.

MR cannot enjoy special privileges as ordinary candidate –Akila Viraj UNP candidate pinpoints

(Lanka-e-News-16.July.2015, 10.30PM)  The deposed president Mahinda Rajapakse is now an ordinary candidate , therefore , the security detail provided and privileges accorded to him shall be whittled down . UNP media spokesman and education minister Akila Viraj Kariyawasam has made this request in writing to the Elections commissioner.

The former presidents were   accorded special privileges to enable them to   act with honor , but the defeated president is now just an ordinary candidate at the general elections , hence granting him special privileges to him is to place the other candidates in an invidious position , and is unfair by them , Akila Viraj has pointed out to the Elections ommissioner.Without granting him special privileges, if he is given privileges at ministerial level , that may not be an issue , Akila Viraj had stated. 

In addition, minister of justice Wijedasa Rajapakse at Maharagama yesterday when addressing a public gathering said, laws are to be formulated to prevent double privileges being granted to deposed president Mahinda Rajapakse if he is to be appointed as an ordinary M.P . The privileges he enjoyed while he was president shall  be withdrawn and only those which he is entitled to as an M.P. must be granted based on the new laws , he pinponted. 

The Elections commissioner answering queries posed by Lanka e news in this connection revealed ,he cannot take a decision on this , and a court decision delivered after seeking court advice must be abided by .

---------------------------
by     (2015-07-16 17:18:44)

Mahanayaka reminds Prasanna of politicians’ duties

THURSDAY, 16 JULY 2015

People took to the streets against the UPFA government as nothing was done to the villages reminded Mahanayaka of the Malwatta Chapter, Ven. Thibbetuwawe Sri Siddhartha Sumangala Thero to the Chief Minister for Western PC Prasanna Ranatunga. The prelate said this when Mr. Ranatunga visited him yesterday (15th). The prelate said Hambantota, the electorate former President represented, did need other things more than the harbour and the airport that were built during the former regime.

“The policies of the SLFP were cast away and the ideology of its partners that did not have any vote base came up whenever the SLFP discarded the ‘hand’ symbol and allied with those parties. As a result the services expected by the people from the SLFP and its allies could not be fulfilled. The SLFP could contest from the ‘hand’ symbol protecting its identity. Those who forget the village as soon as they get power remembers the village only when an election is announced. Power is not necessary to work for the village and its people,” said the Mahanayaka.

Rajapaksha's secret for looking slim and macho - cost Rs.300 million

Thursday, 16 July 2015

I amusingly recall not so long ago, a very near and dear friend of mine and his beloved wife that were dazzled by the ex-presidents so-called athletic image that vigorously debated and argued with me so hard to justify that Mahinda Rajapaksa was a modern day “Ares”- The Olympian Greek God…as he was fitness and sports enthusiasts.

WHEN I told them that I was reliably informed that he wears a customized lightweight slimming compression body shaper vest made of pure Dupont Kevlar for NIJ Level IIIA and IV Protection with a cooling gel sewn into the vest. The vest needs to be placed in the sanitizer / cooler to ensure is kept sanitized, cool and comfortable while being spattered in aromatic oils during the sanitization and cooling process.
The product was supplied from the Netherlands at a cost to the state of Euro 19, 600/= per vest + Euro 15,963/= for the cooling and sanitizing machine X 12 machines… Aromatic oils and sanitization liquid were all imported and continuously replenished from Israel + Air Freight. The Last Monarch of Lanka imported over 50 No’s ONLY for himself at state cost of over Rs 300 Million just to hoodwink the country that he was slim and macho.

“With Apsari on FB”
Mahinda Rajapaksa, when he was in power, spent a lot of time and energy to maintain his sporty personality and macho image.
However, Rajapaksa’s sporty image was tarnished by Apsari Thilakaratne, the wife of former Sri Lankan cricketer Hashan Thilakaratne on Friday. Apsari, on Friday, met the former President at his Mirihana residence and posted some pictures of the meeting on her Facebook page.

The pictures, unfortunately, showed the real body-shape and size of the former President, contrary to the ‘sporty photographs’ issued by his official media team.

The bulging belly shown in the pictures came as a shock to many who were dazzled by the former President’s so-called trim macho image. The caption of Apsari’s photograph was ‘with our great leader @ his residence’.

Winning not the only thing for Canada, but it sure is nice

RICHARD LAUTENS / TORONTO STAR Order this photo

Ellie Black's third gold in gymnastics was Canada's 30th gold of the Pan Ams, matching the the country's total from four years ago. Black's final gold came in the beam, with teammate Victoria Woo winning bronze.

By: Doug Smith Sports Reporter, Kerry Gillespie Sports reporter, Published on Wed Jul 15 2015

Home-country advantage — plus the largest contingent of athletes the country has ever had assembled, all with a goal of winning, and winning big — has produced extraordinary results for Canada through the first six days of the Pan Am Games.

When Ellie Black completed her domination of the artistic gymnastics with a gold medal in the floor routine Tuesday afternoon, it was the 30th gold medal of the Games, equaling the Canadian total from 2011 in Guadalajara. There are still 11 days of competition to come.

The most gold medals ever won by a Canadian came, not surprisingly, at another home Games: 64 in Winnipeg in 1999. That year’s total haul of 196 remains Canada’s best result.

A confluence of circumstances has created the blistering start. Canada has shone on the water, athletes trained at Pan Am Games venues have taken advantage of familiarity, and the sheer number of athletes dictates greater success than four years ago.

And the victories now may very well set athletes up for more success on larger scales in the coming years.

One of the most significant aspects of these Games for the Canadian team was to give athletes a chance to experience a multi-sport event, to let them see top-notch opposition, allowing them to learn in familiar surroundings.

“It’s important in terms of athlete development to be on top of the podium,” Peter Cookson, Rowing Canada’s high performance director Peter Cookson said. “Like every sport, there are stages to an athlete’s development and one of them is learning to win. For us, getting on the podium and learning to win is an important part of their development in getting to the Olympics.

“I’m pretty sure they liked hearing the national anthem. That’s was a really important part of why we decided to come here with our A-team.”

To be sure, Canada set itself up to win: the 719 athletes is the largest multi-sport Games team ever put together. It includes Olympians and future Olympians, world champions and those on the ascent to that level, and it was crafted with victory in mind.

The schedule, too, has helped Canada get off to its best Pan Am Games start ever. The country is a traditional power in rowing and canoe/kayak, where Canada won 14 gold medals and 23 in total.

Swimming, which began with a three-gold medal opening night was expected to go well. Canada’s divers have also contributed two golds to the total.

That is in huge contrast to four years ago. In Guadalajara, Canada won only two medals in the entire swimming competition, and did not win a single rowing gold.

“It’s been good opportunities to keep pushing forward and pushing for more. It’s an awesome momentum boost to get us excited for the Rio Games,” double gold rowing medallist Carling Zeeman said.

“I keep an internal focus, so whether I’m racing the best in the world or not I’m still doing my best race.”

In diving, Canada is a strong nation at the moment, particularly on the women’s side but winning nine medals — again, well above the target — was only possible because the dominant Chinese divers weren’t there.

But that still didn’t mean Canada came out on top in everything — the Mexicans have a strong team, and in fact won every diving gold at the Games they hosted in 2011. Several Canadian athletes performed slightly below their own expectations, citing nerves at a big Games and having such a loud crowd behind them.

This then, is the sort of experience that makes the Pan Am Games so valuable as Rio preparation.

“When you are the hosts, there is added opportunity there,” chef de mission Curt Harnett said. “One of the great things about these Games is . . . the path to Rio is on our radar.”

With files from Laura Armstrong and Brendan Kennedy

China warns Japan over laws to allow its troops to fight abroad

Beijing urges Tokyo to ‘refrain from crippling regional peace and stability’ after Japanese bills approved in lower house

 Japanese soldiers. The two bills would permit Tokyo to deploy soldiers abroad in UN peacekeeping missions and for collective defence in the face of a direct threat to Japanese security. Photograph: Yasser Al-Zayyat/AFP/Getty Images

Julian Borger and agencies-Thursday 16 July 2015

China has warned Japan against “crippling regional peace and security” after the lower house of parliament in Tokyo passed bills to allow Japanese troops to fight abroad for the first time since the second world war.

The two bills were passed despite widespread popular opposition and questions over their constitutionality. Opposition parties staged a walkout in protest before the vote, while tens of thousands of protesters demonstrated outside parliament. But, with the governing Liberal Democratic party (LDP) controlling two-thirds of the seats, the outcome was never in doubt.

The legislation, part of a long-running bid by the prime minister, Shinzo Abe, toreinterpret Japan’s US-authored pacifist postwar constitution, now has to go before the upper house, where the LDP and its allies are also in the majority. It will have 60 days to vote but if the upper house rejects the bills, it can be overridden by the lower house. Opposition parties, deeply attached to the doctrine of collective self-defence, are planning legal challenges.

If the new bills survive, they would permit the Japanese government to deploy soldiers abroad in UN peacekeeping missions and for collective defence, for example in alliance with the US and Australia, in the face of a direct threat to Japanese security.

“It is fully justified to ask if Japan is going to give up its exclusively defence-oriented policy,” China’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in a statement. “We solemnly urge the Japanese side to … refrain from jeopardising China’s sovereignty and security interests or crippling regional peace and stability.”

The Japanese parliamentary vote comes at a time of heightened tensions with China, which has stepped up construction on a chain of disputed atolls in the East China sea. Beijing also regularly criticises the Japanese prime minister, accusing him of seeking to gloss over the horrors of the 1937 invasion of China.

Referring to the 70th anniversary of Japan’s defeat in what Beijing calls “the Chinese people’s war of resistance against Japanese aggression”, Hua said: “We solemnly urge the Japanese side to draw hard lessons from history.”

China is planning a large-scale military parade to mark the end of the second world war in the Pacific. China’s official Xinhua news agency also condemned the Japanese vote, saying it meant “a nightmare scenario has come a step closer for Japanese people and neighbouring nations”.

If passed, the bills would “tarnish the reputation of a nation that has earned international respect for its pacifist constitution over a period of nearly seven decades”, the agency said. 

The head of Japan’s National Security Council held talks with China’s top diplomat on Thursday intended to prepare for a possible summit between the leaders of the countries later this year in Beijing. The meeting between Chinese state councillor Yang Jiechi and Shotaro Yachi, a career diplomat and a close aide to Abe, were part of a continuing attempt to prevent the standoff over the Pacific islands and the Japanese parliamentary vote leading to a new breach in relations between the countries.

The parliamentary vote on the defence bills marked a victory for Abe and the LDP in the face of widespread public disapproval, after 117 hours of deliberations spread over several months. The debate was emotional and sometimes raucous inside and outside parliament. Several MPs yelled and held up placards during the vote and on Wednesday night protesters demonstrated against the bills in Tokyo.

Abe is seeking to reinterpret Japan’s constitution with the aim of restoring full sovereignty to the country. But he has sought to carry out the changes without a referendum that would be required to approve a formal amendment to the constitution. 

The current constitution bans Japan from using force to resolve conflicts except in cases of self-defence. Abe is seeking to change the interpretation of the statute so that Japanese troops could be sent abroad if three conditions were met: when Japan, or a close ally, is attacked and the result threatens Japan’s survival and poses a clear danger to people; when there is no other appropriate means available to repel the attack and ensure Japan’s survival and protect its people; and when use of force is restricted to a necessary minimum.

While the laws will enable Japan to take part in UN peacekeeping missions, Tokyo will not be allowed to deploy combat troops. Nevertheless, a recent survey conducted by Nihon TV showed that 59% of participants rejected the latest changes, while only 24% supported them. Abe’s approval ratings have dropped to their lowest point since he took up his second term in office in 2012.