Japan's parliament has voted in favor of a law that will allow the local military fight across borders for the first time since World War II, 70 years ago.
The vote on the constitutional amendment was delayed for several hours, as the opposition tried to stop efforts to return the measure into law. Outside the institution, dozens of demonstrators gathered in recent protests against such a move.
Many Japanese are peaceful pro provisions in the Constitution, which so far have stopped fighting overseas. The draft law was recently passed by the lower house of the Parliament, controlled by the government.
The government announced the changes in defense policy are vital to cope with the new challenges of the military, as those exhibited by the strong growth of Chinese military capability. The executive sought to develop this vote and approve the law before starting a five-day holiday on Saturday.
The ruling coalition has a majority in both houses of the Japanese parliament, known as the Diet, which means that no matter how he tried, the opposition camp was powerless to stop the return of this bill into law.
Masaaki Yamazaki, president of the upper house of Parliament, said the law was adopted with 148 votes in favor and 90 against. More than 200 hours were spent to review the legislation, reports "Japan Times", and its approval by the Parliament fulfills a long-term ambitions of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
On Thursday, opposition politicians tried to push the bill proceeding through physical reactions, while the public has caused massive protests for months