On Nov. 29, Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Shigeru Ishiba criticized public demonstrations near the Diet building by those opposed to the state secrets bill. ¡°I believe the tactics of simply shouting (opinions) at the top of one¡¯s voice seems not so different from an act of terrorism in essence,¡± he wrote in his blog of that date.
In the apology and ¡°correction¡± that he issued Dec. 2, Ishiba crossed out the phrase ¡°not so different from an act of terrorism¡± in a manner that left it legible and added ¡°different from the way a democratic method should be.¡± Obviously Ishiba intended his blog readership to understand that his original sentiment remained intact.
This episode shows that the LDP¡¯s No. 2 official fails to understand the importance of protests and demonstrations as a fundamental democratic means for citizens to express their opinions and demands as guaranteed by Article 21 of the Constitution, which in part says, ¡°Freedom of assembly and association as well as speech, press and all other forms of expression are guaranteed.¡±
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