安倍：边为丑闻道歉，边忙推动修宪 | Abe vows to change constitution amid scandal

日本首相安倍晋三25日在自民党大会上再次就森友学园“购地门”道歉，承诺彻底调查事件。

2017年2月，日媒曝光安倍晋三夫人安倍昭惠担任过名誉校长的森友学园贱卖近10亿日元（约合5965万元人民币）的国有土地，引发了一场恐将断送安倍晋三政治前途的风波。

在25日的同一场大会上，安倍晋三还再度表明修宪意愿，称“在宪法中明确写入自卫队，结束违宪的争论，这才是当今的政治家与自民党的职责”。

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says he won't let a political scandal that has damaged him politically get in the way of his contentious plan to amend the nation's pacifist constitution.

Despite his fading popularity, Abe told the annual meeting of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party that he was committed to changing the constitution, imposed by the United States on the defeated nation after World War II.

Abe's image has been hurt by a widening scandal over the cut-price sale of government land to one of his supporters, with the opposition suggesting his wife Akie may have played a role.

The scandal worsened when finance ministry bureaucrats admitted altering official records of the sales, erasing references to Abe and his wife as well as other political figures.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who heads the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, speaks at its annual convention in Tokyo on March 25, 2018. 

"I will thoroughly investigate and show the whole picture of what happened," Abe told party members.

"And I will fulfill my duty by rebuilding the (government) organization so that this will not happen again," he said, reiterating his resolve to stay in power.

Abe has denied any involvement by him or his wife in the case but protesters have staged rallies across the nation.

His approval rating has fallen to its lowest level since his return to power at the end of 2012.

National attention is turning to parliamentary testimony scheduled for Tuesday by Nobuhisa Sagawa, formerly the head of the finance ministry department that oversaw the land deal.

Anti-Abe protesters gather near Shinagawa station to protest against Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his LDP party over the revision of Article 9 of the constitution, Tokyo, March 25, 2018.

Abe said he wants to end the debate over the constitutionality of Japan's military, officially known as the Self-Defence Forces (SDF). The constitution says Japan renounces war and will not maintain land, sea or air forces.

Scholars have long argued about whether the existence of the SDF is constitutional.

The military is well regarded by the general public, and there is widespread acceptance of the government's traditional view that they should be used only for self-defense.

Abe, however, in 2015 expanded the role of the Japanese forces to include the defense of friendly nations, prompting protests from scholars and voters alike that the change violated the constitution.

"Now is the time to reform the constitution," said Abe. "Let us end this unconstitutionality debate."

His conservative coalition holds a two-thirds "super majority" in the 465-seat lower house, giving him the numbers to realize his long-held dream.