TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ruling party suffered an embarrassing potential setback this week when an expert it called to comment in parliament said legal changes to let troops defend an ally under attack would violate the constitution.
Abe's cabinet last year adopted a resolution reinterpreting the pacifist constitution to let Japan exercise its right of "collective self-defence", or militarily aiding an ally under attack. The change is part of Abe's more muscular defence policy that would give Japan a bigger role in the U.S.-Japan alliance.