Nagasaki mayor urges gov't to dispel concerns over controversial security bills

NAGASAKI, Japan - Tomihisa Taue, mayor of Japan's Nagasaki city, on Sunday urged the Japanese government to dispel public's concerns over the government-backed security bills by conducting "careful and sincere deliberations" on the bills.

Nagasaki Mayor Tomihisa Taue walks to deliver his speech during a ceremony commemorating the 70th anniversary of the 1945 atomic bombing of the city at Nagasaki's Peace Park in Nagasaki, western Japan, August 9, 2015. [Photo/Agencies]

Addressing here at the 70th anniversary of US atomic bombing on the city, Taue warned that the pacifism nature of the Japanese war-renouncing Constitution is "wavering," referring to the controversial bills that, if enacted, will allow Japan to engage in armed conflicts overseas for the first time in 70 years since the end of World War II.

"There are widespread unease and concerns that the (peaceful) oath which is engraved onto our hearts 70 years ago and the peaceful ideology of the Japanese Constitution are wavering," said the mayor, urging the government and the Diet to listen to the voices of unease and concerns.

The security legislation, which is pushed by the ruling coalition led by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, is considered by over 90 percent of Japanese constitutional experts as "unconstitutional " since the Japanese supreme law bans the country from engaging combats abroad.

Recent polls also showed that the majority of Japanese population are opposed to the bills and the supporting rate for Abe's cabinet dived around 10 percentage points immediately after the ruling bloc rammed the bills through the Diet's lower house in July.