SDP leader Mizuho Fukushima gives a speech at the party convention at its headquarters in Tokyo on Feb. 11.

SDP leader Mizuho Fukushima said in her address that her party resolves to prevent changes that will damage the Constitution as well as to make efforts to bridge social divisions.

"We aim to reduce the scale of the (forces), which are apparently unconstitutional, to reassign them to the duties of border security, disaster relief and international cooperation so we can have an unarmed Japan," the declaration said.

Fukushima said, "We cannot say that the SDF, which has been dispatched to Iraq to support the U.S. military that exercises force, exists within the framework of the Constitution."

The move is apparently aimed at boosting the SDP's standing as a pacifist party. Once the main opposition party, the SDP has seen its Diet strength dwindle over the years. The SDP has only seven seats in the 480-seat Lower House and six in the 242-seat Upper House.

The Japan Times Weekly: Feb. 18, 2006
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