英字新聞

The Yomiuri Shimbun (Aug. 14, 2012)
Parties must tackle remaining issues before end of Diet session
終盤国会　民自公で残る懸案に取り組め（8月13日付・読売社説）

The passage rate of bills submitted by the government during the current ordinary Diet session is only 48 percent. Many observers doubt whether it will even reach the record-low 54 percent seen in the 2010 ordinary Diet session.
　政府が今通常国会に提出した法案の成立率が現在、４８％にとどまっている。過去最低となった２０１０年通常国会の５４％に届くかどうかも危ぶまれている状況だ。

Poor management of Diet affairs by the ruling Democratic Party of Japan and resistance of the opposition parties, triggered by censure against two cabinet ministers, have stagnated deliberations on bills.
　民主党の稚拙な国会運営や、２閣僚問責を契機とした野党の抵抗が法案審議停滞の原因である。

A large number of issues need to be dealt with in the final phase of the current Diet session. We expect the DPJ, the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito to maintain their current partnership and achieve tangible results.
　終盤国会で処理すべき懸案は、数多い。民主、自民、公明３党は現在の連携を堅持し、具体的な成果を上げてもらいたい。

Only three weeks--if the Bon holiday period is excluded--remain to discuss bills before the end of the current session on Sept. 8.
　お盆休みを除けば、９月８日の会期末まで実質的に審議できるのは３週間程度しかない。

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Prioritize important bills

Diet members have to identify important bills and deliberate them efficiently. These include a bill to allow the government to issue deficit-covering bonds and bills on the revision of the Public Offices Election Law to alleviate disparity in the value of votes by reducing the number of seats at the House of Representatives by five.
　赤字国債発行を認める特例公債法案や、衆院選の「１票の格差」を是正する「０増５減」の公職選挙法改正案など重要法案を絞り、効率良く審議する必要がある。

For instance, the DPJ, the LDP and Komeito have agreed on the early passage of bills to create a common personal identification number for social security and taxation systems, which is necessary for comprehensive reform of those systems, and to realize an Osaka metropolis.
　例えば、一体改革に欠かせない社会保障と税の共通番号（マイナンバー）を創設する法案や、「大阪都構想」のための法案について、少なくとも民自公３党は早期実現の方向で一致している。

The three parties must also recognize the urgency of Diet agreement on personnel appointments for a nuclear regulatory commission.
　原子力規制委員会人事の国会同意についても、３党は緊急性の認識を共有しているはずだ。

Why has Diet agreement on the personnel appointments proposed by the government in late July been put off?
　にもかかわらず、政府が７月下旬に提案した同意人事案を放置しているのはどうしたことか。

If the launch of the commission scheduled for September is postponed, it might delay the safety inspections necessary for reactivation of idle nuclear reactors.
９月予定の規制委発足がずれ込めば、原子力発電所再稼働の前提となる安全性審査が遅れかねない。

It is also intolerable the Diet failed to approve international treaties.
　条約承認の停滞も目に余る。

The government has submitted 11 bills in the current session on international treaties for Diet approval, including the Hague Convention on treatment of children when international marriages fail.
　国際結婚が破綻した場合の子の扱いを定めるハーグ条約など、今国会には１１本の条約承認案が提出されている。

However, none have been approved so far, due to confrontation between the ruling and opposition parties in the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee. The Diet cannot escape criticism for being negligent in its duty.
　しかし、衆院外務委員会での与野党対立のあおりを受け、いまだに１本も成立していない。国会として怠慢のそしりは免れまい。

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TPP, energy also on agenda

There is also a mountain of political issues other than bills, which require consensus building between the ruling and opposition parties.
　法案以外にも、与野党の調整を必要とする重要な政策課題は山積している。

They include possible participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership multilateral free trade agreement, the realization of a new energy policy, including the role of nuclear power, and mid- and long-term reform of the public pension system.
　アジアの成長を取り込むための環太平洋経済連携協定（ＴＰＰ）への参加、原子力の活用を含む新エネルギー政策の実現、中長期的な年金制度の改革などである。

None of the issues can move forward without a stable political foundation where the national leader can look resolutely forward.
　いずれも、将来を見据えられる、安定的な政治基盤がなければ、前に動かすことはできない。

It is a grave fact that neither the DPJ nor the LDP and Komeito have a majority in the House of Councillors. 　参院では、民主党も自公両党も過半数を握っていないという事実は重い。

Whatever election pledges or policy issues the three parties make in the next lower house election, they cannot be realized and will become empty promises without a tripartite partnership among the DPJ, the LDP and Komeito in the so-called divided Diet where the opposition maintains control of the upper house.
次期衆院選でどのような政権公約や政策課題を掲げても、衆参ねじれ国会が続く状況では、３党が手を組まなければ実現できず、空証文となってしまう。

We believe it is significant for the three parties to maintain a relationship of trust as they must seek a tripartite partnership not only before, but also after the lower house election.
　衆院選をはさんでも３党連携を模索せざるを得ない以上、３党間の信頼関係を維持していくことが肝要ではないか。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Aug. 13, 2012)
（2012年8月13日01時17分 読売新聞）