英字新聞

The Yomiuri Shimbun (Aug. 11, 2012)
Noda must waste no time in restoring his leadership
一体法案成立へ　首相の求心力回復が急務だ（8月10日付・読売社説）

The turmoil in the Diet over the government-envisioned raising of the consumption tax rate has brought to the fore the fragility of the power base of Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's administration. It is urgent for the prime minister to restore his leadership.
　消費税政局では、野田政権の基盤の脆(もろ)さが露呈した。首相にとっては求心力の回復が急務だ。

A set of bills for comprehensive reform of the tax and social security systems was set to pass the House of Councillors and become law, Friday.
　社会保障・税一体改革関連法案はきょう、参院で可決、成立する運びとなった。

This is because of an agreement reached Wednesday night between the heads of the Democratic Party of Japan and two major opposition parties, the Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito, on the need for early enactment of the reform bills.
８日の民主、自民、公明３党党首会談で、法案の早期成立で合意したことによるものだ。

We welcome this development, in which a worst-case scenario was averted in an 11th-hour compromise to avoid scrapping the bills as a result of bickering among the three parties over when to dissolve the House of Representatives for a general election.
　衆院解散の時期をめぐる３党の駆け引きで成立目前の法案が葬られる、という最悪の事態を避けられたことは歓迎したい。

If the bills had been scrapped, domestic and overseas opinion of Japan's political system would have been irrevocably damaged. That would have triggered various negative repercussions, such as declines in the creditworthiness of Japanese government bonds.
　仮に法案が廃案になれば、日本の政治に対する内外の評価は決定的に悪化し、国債の信認の低下など様々な悪影響が出ただろう。

A major factor that enabled the last-ditch accord may be the fact that Noda and LDP President Sadakazu Tanigaki, who have both served as finance minister, concurred on the urgent necessity of rehabilitating the government's debt-stricken finances.
　野田首相と自民党の谷垣総裁がともに財務相経験者で、財政健全化の緊急性で一致していたことが土壇場での合意を可能にした。

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Both Noda, Tanigaki under fire

On the other hand, there is no denying that Noda and Tanigaki, each facing a party leadership election in September, are facing higher hurdles for reelection as their power bases within their respective parties have weakened because of the tripartite accord.
　一方で、両氏とも、９月に党首選を控える中、今回の合意で党内基盤が弱まり、再選のハードルが上がったのは否定できない。

The commitment Noda was driven to make to seek a mandate from the public by dissolving the lower house "sometime soon" after the Diet passes the bills has drawn fire from such intraparty groups as one headed by former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama.
　首相は「近いうちに国民に信を問う」と約束させられたことで、鳩山グループなどの反発を招いた。谷垣氏も、今国会中の解散を首相に確約させられず、党内の主戦論者らに不満を残した。

Tanigaki, for his part, did not win assurance from the prime minister that the lower chamber would be dissolved during the current session of the legislature, which ends Sept. 8. As a result, hard-line LDP legislators who want an early dissolution of the lower house are dissatisfied with Tanigaki.
　首相は、谷垣氏との間では一定の信頼関係を築いたが、両氏の党内統治能力に疑問符が付けられる事態に陥っている。

Although the prime minister seems to have built up mutual trust with Tanigaki, the two men's abilities to steer their intraparty affairs have been called into question.
For example, the prime minister's lack of caution has been conspicuous, as exemplified by his careless remark regarding compilation of a state budget for next fiscal year, which provoked outrage from the LDP.
　首相自身、来年度予算編成をめぐる不用意発言で自民党の怒りを買うなど、脇の甘さが目立った。

To secure cooperation in Diet affairs under the divided legislature, in which the opposition controls the upper house while the ruling camp has a majority in the lower house, the prime minister must watch his step extremely carefully.
衆参ねじれ国会で野党の協力を得るには細心の注意が必要だ。

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LDP holds bargaining chips

There are also other causes of conflict.
　ほかにも、火種はある。

When a no-confidence motion submitted to a plenary session of the lower house against the Noda Cabinet by six minor opposition parties such as People's Life First and the Japanese Communist Party was voted down Thursday, almost all LDP and Komeito lawmakers were absent or abstained from voting.
　国民の生活が第一、共産など野党６党が衆院に提出した野田内閣不信任決議案が否決された際、自民、公明両党は欠席・棄権した。

This was because the two parties were against the no-confidence motion but did not want to endorse the Noda administration by explicitly opposing it.
不信任案に賛成はできないが、反対して野田内閣を信任することも避けたいという思惑からだ。

The LDP has held such bargaining chips as submission of a censure motion against the prime minister, which it opted not to present this time, and blocking Diet approval of a government plan to issue deficit-covering bonds.
　自民党は、今回見送った問責決議案の提出や、特例公債法案の成立阻止という、政権を揺さぶるカードも手元に残している。

The DPJ and LDP also differ widely in their interpretation of the vague term "sometime soon" regarding dissolution of the lower house.
　「近いうち」の解散という玉虫色の合意をめぐる解釈も、民主、自民両党は大きく隔たっている。

While the LDP has persistently sought dissolution before the end of this Diet sitting, a great majority of the lower house members belonging to the DPJ are for holding a general election later than sooner, as the party's popularity ratings have been low.
自民党があくまで今国会での解散を求め続けているのに対し、支持率の低迷する民主党は、総選挙の先送りを望む声が大勢だ。

The different interpretations of "sometime soon" are expected to rise to the surface sooner or later, in the form of a demand from the LDP for early dissolution of the lower house, thus certainly intensifying the tug-of-war with the DPJ.
　解釈の違いはいずれ、自民党の早期解散要求という形で再び顕在化し、民主党との間で攻防が激しくなることが避けられまい。

Under these circumstances, Noda must swiftly redouble his efforts to consolidate the power base of his administration, to rack up specific achievements by addressing not only tax and social security reform but also other key pending political tasks.
　野田首相は、早急に政権の態勢を立て直すとともに、一体改革以外の重要課題にも取り組み、実績を重ねなければならない。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Aug. 10, 2012)
（2012年8月10日01時16分 読売新聞）