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Friday June 2, 12:56 PMLDP panel drafts report on imperial succession from 'neutral ground'(Kyodo) _ A study panel of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party on imperial succession on Friday presented two different proposals in its draft report -- allowing female monarchs to ascend the imperial throne and preserving the current male-line succession.Panel head Ben Kimura said the draft was compiled from "neutral ground" and that it is not necessary to show a unified opinion when it remains unclear whether a bill to revise the current Imperial House Law will be submitted. The government had planned to submit the revision bill to the current Diet session to pave the way for female monarchs and their descendants to reign as a way to avoid a possible succession crisis. No male heir has been born into the imperial family since 1965. But Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi gave up the idea after Princess Kiko, the wife of Emperor Akihito's second son, was found to be pregnant in early February, raising the possibility of a male heir being born. "I don't think we are in a situation or have the necessity to venture into unifying opinions of those in favor of a female line and those in favor of a male line," Kimura said after the panel meeting. The draft report shows that the panel discussions focused around two ideas -- preserving the current imperial succession which allows only male imperial heirs who have emperors on their fathers' side to ascend the throne, or allowing female monarchs and their descendants to reign. As a way to preserve male-line imperial succession, the report proposes restoring royal status to male members of former branch families who were divested of such status in 1947 under the U.S. occupation following Japan's defeat in World War II. The draft notes opinions that the return of one or two former imperial members would enable the current succession system to be maintained for at least the next several decades and that solutions should be considered by then. But supporters of allowing female-line succession said restoring royal status to members of such families would not be a fundamental solution and that the number of those eligible may be extremely limited. During the one-hour meeting, there were also voices among the panel members opposing giving the two conflicting opinions equal weight. The final draft is expected to be compiled by the end of the current Diet session on June 18 and to be submitted to LDP Policy Research Council Chairman Hidenao Nakagawa. Kimura said the report is to serve as a starting platform for the LDP in discussing the issue once a bill to revise the 1947 Imperial House Law is submitted to the Diet and will offer information to the public in thinking about the matter. The draft report also stresses the necessity of continuing to consider the issue within the party because many feel the need to review the imperial succession system to ensure its stability. Japan had eight female monarchs in the past before women were barred from the throne by law under the 1889 Meiji Constitution and also through the 1947 Imperial House Law under the present Constitution. But experts said that heirs to the throne have always been from the male line in Japan's imperial history, which dates back to around the fifth century. |
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