55.4% oppose attempt to lift ban on collective self-defense

TOKYO -- A poll conducted in Japan has shown that 55.4 percent of interviewees are against the attempt to allow the country to exercise the right of collective self-defense, up from 48.1 percent the previous month.

The nationwide telephone survey, which was made by Kyodo News Agency on Saturday and Sunday, found that only 34.5 percent support the controversial move. In the mean time, 57.7 percent of respondents are against Abe's move to lift the ban on collective self-defense by reinterpreting the Pacifist Constitution, instead of amending it.

According to the Article 9 of the current Pacifist Constitution, Japan forever renounces war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes, but Abe aims to reinterpret it now to allow the country to fight with other nations under the umbrella of collective self- defense.

The survey also found that the approval rate for Abe's Cabinet has fallen to 52.1 percent from 54.7 percent in May.