Japan's ruling coalition came in for a shock recently as parliament mulled legislation pushed by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to expand the powers of the nation's Self-Defense Forces.
The lawmakers had invited three constitutional scholars to address the lower house. One of them, Waseda University professor Yasuo Hasebe, was handpicked by the coalition, which was stunned when he said the legislation would "considerably damage the legal stability" of the nation and violate the country's post-World War II pacifist constitution.
The other two scholars agreed.
"It was a total disaster," said a coalition lawmaker, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.