「護憲」「改憲」ネットで訴え　新型コロナで集会中継―憲法記念日

　新型コロナウイルスの感染拡大を受け、憲法記念日に大規模な集会を開いてきた護憲派、改憲派の団体は３日、規模を大幅に縮小し、演説の様子をインターネットの動画投稿サイト「ユーチューブ」などで中継した。
　東京都千代田区の国会正門前では、護憲派が中継のための「５．３憲法集会」を開催。「安倍９条改憲ＮＯ！」などと書かれたプラカードを掲げ、市民団体や学者らが改憲反対を訴えた。

　憲法学者の稲正樹さんは「今回の事態で表現や集会の自由といった憲法の基本的人権が制限されている。真に必要な場合にとどめるべきだ」と指摘。法学者の浅倉むつ子さんは「日本国憲法を貫く本当の平和主義と反暴力の考え方を世界に向かって発信すべきだ」と訴えた。
　一方、改憲派は東京都新宿区の会議室で、主催者のみの「憲法フォーラム」を開催。安倍晋三首相は５年連続でビデオメッセージを寄せ、憲法改正に意欲を見せた。ジャーナリストの桜井よしこさんは「『国家なき憲法』で、（新型コロナという）国難を克服することができるのか」などと訴えた。（2020/05/03-18:14）

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called for holding discussions in the Diet, the country's parliament, on the proposed addition of a state of emergency clause to the country's Constitution, in a video message on this year's Constitution Day on Sunday.
   Amid the relentless spread of the new coronavirus, "We're facing extremely critical challenges of deciding what roles the state and citizens should fulfill in the event of an emergency, how we should overcome national crises and how we should position these matters in the Constitution," the prime minister said.
   Abe sent the video message in his capacity as president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party to a meeting of people supporting constitutional amendments that was held in Tokyo Sunday by a private-sector organization and was broadcast live online. The annual gathering was held at a substantially reduced scale due to the virus crisis.
   The proposed state of emergency clause would allow the government to limit citizens' rights temporarily to deal with emergencies such as war and large-scale disasters.
   Abe stressed that his determination to revise the Constitution remains unwavering. "It's not an easy road but we'll certainly accomplish" the constitutional reform, he said.