Thousands rally in downtown Tokyo, say no to PM Abe

Thousands of protestors rallied Friday night in downtown Tokyo in a campaign of "Say no to the Abe government," targeting Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's " runaway" policy.

The protestors gathered at the Hibiya Park, Diet building and the prime minister's official residence, shouting "Abe step down," "definitely oppose war" and "protect constitution."

Demonstrations of the kind have been constantly held near the Diet building since the Abe administration started to push forward a series of controversial security-related bills in parliament debates.

On Friday, the Japanese bicameral Diet decided to set up a special panel at the upper house to debate the security bills. The legislation package was rammed through the lower house last week.

The bills, if enacted, will allow Japan's Self-Defense Forces ( SDF) to exercise the right to collective self-defense, but Japan's war-renouncing constitution bans the SDF from doing so.

Japan's former prime minister Tomiichi Murayama, who delivered a speech Thursday evening during a rally near the Diet, again participated in Friday's demonstration, criticizing Prime Minister Abe for carrying out an autocratic politics and defying Japan's democratic system.

The former prime minister, who is famous for his 1995 statement offering an apology to countries that suffered Japan's wartime atrocities, stressed that it is very proud for Japan to renounce war under the pacifism constitution.

The security bills will be discussed at the upper house special panel from Monday. Latest polls showed that majority of Japanese people opposed the bills and about 90 percent of Japanese constitutional experts said the bills are unconstitutional.

The supporting rate for Abe's cabinet tumbled 10 percentage points immediately after the forced passage the controversial bills in the lower house, while the disapproval rate surged to over 50 percent. Endi