英字新聞

The Yomiuri Shimbun (Nov. 11, 2012)
Ruling and opposition parties should meet halfway
「年内解散」検討　環境整備へ与野党は歩み寄れ（11月10日付・読売社説）

By speeding up efforts to settle key issues, both ruling and opposition parties should create an environment conducive to a decision by Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda to dissolve the House of Representatives within the year.
　年内の衆院解散へ、与野党は懸案処理を急ぎ、野田首相が決断できる環境を整えるべきだ。

Noda is currently mulling dissolution of the lower house for a general election. As some members of his Democratic Party of Japan are considering leaving the party, the prime minister is well aware of the risk that the DPJ may no longer retain a lower house majority. Given the situation, Noda apparently is looking for ways to gain the upper hand in dissolving the lower house rather than being forced to dissolve it.
　首相が解散・総選挙の検討に入った。民主党内に離党予備軍を抱え、衆院での与党過半数割れも視野に入る。首相は、追い込まれるよりも主導権を握った形での解散を模索しているのだろう。

It has been about three years and two months since the last lower house election. It is about time to seek a public mandate.
　前回衆院選から約３年２か月が経過し、国民に信を問う潮時を迎えつつあるのは確かだ。

The prime minister was apparently prompted to consider dissolution by a change in the stance of the largest opposition Liberal Democratic Party. LDP President Shinzo Abe recently said his party is ready to cooperate on passing a bill to issue deficit-covering bonds and resolving other key issues even though Noda has not set a definite date for the dissolution.
　首相の背中を押したのは、自民党の安倍総裁が解散の確約にこだわらず、赤字国債発行を可能にする特例公債法案の成立などに協力する方針に転じたことだ。

The bill is expected to be passed in the lower house Thursday and be enacted by the end of this month.
　法案は１５日に衆院を通過し、月内に成立する見通しだ。

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LDP, Komeito cooperation

The LDP has concluded that holding the matter closely linked to the people's daily lives "hostage" is not the proper thing to do. We view this as reasonable.
　自民党が、国民生活を「人質」とする戦術は取るべきではないと判断したのは妥当である。

Under the divided Diet in which the House of Councillors is controlled by the opposition camp, the opposition's act of urging Noda to specify the timing of the dissolution in return for its cooperation in passing important legislation could restrict the prime minister's constitutional prerogative to dissolve the lower house.
　衆参ねじれ国会の下、首相が重要法案成立と引き換えに解散時期の明示を迫られることは、解散権の制約につながろう。

If such maneuvers were to be repeated, no administration would last long, and politics would be thrown into chaos. We believe Abe's compromise would be to the advantage of the LDP, which is seeking a return to power.
　こうした駆け引きが繰り返されれば、政権は短命化し、政治の混迷が続く。安倍氏の譲歩は、政権復帰を目指す自民党にとっても損にならないはずだ。

The smaller opposition party New Komeito has also fallen in line with the LDP without calling on Noda for a definite time for the lower house dissolution. Although they have not fully come to terms, it is significant that the three major parties are back on the same page for now.
　公明党も、解散の確約にこだわらず、自民党に同調した。部分的にせよ、民自公路線がこの局面で復活した意義は大きい。

The three parties have also agreed to have party leaders debate in the Diet as well as convene a meeting of the lower house's budget committee next week. We hope they will have serious debates over the Senkaku Islands issue and Japan's participation in negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership multinational free trade framework. Noda supports TPP participation.
　３党は、来週の党首討論と衆院予算委員会の開催でも合意した。尖閣諸島問題や、首相が参加に前向きな環太平洋経済連携協定（ＴＰＰ）を巡り、活発な政策論議を繰り広げてもらいたい。

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It's time for DPJ to shift stance

Meanwhile, the DPJ has maintained a firm attitude on lower house electoral system reform--one of the conditions set by Noda to dissolve the lower house--by continuing to handle the two issues of reducing single-seat constituencies by five and cutting the number of seats in the proportional representation system together. However, the DPJ is unlikely to win cooperation from the opposition with such a stance, and this would leave the passage of the key legislation up in the air.
　解散へのもう一つの条件である衆院選挙制度改革に関し、民主党は、小選挙区の「０増５減」と比例定数削減の同時決着を求める姿勢を崩していない。だが、これでは野党の協力が得られず、法案成立のメドは立たない。

To prevent a lower house election from being held "in a state of unconstitutionality," it is essential for the DPJ to accept the LDP's proposal of handling the issues separately and reducing single-seat constituencies first. The DPJ executive led by Secretary General Azuma Koshiishi should be aware a position shift is necessary.
　「違憲状態」のままの衆院選を避けるには、自民党の求める「０増５減」の先行処理が不可欠だ。民主党の輿石執行部は腹をくくって、方針を転換する時である。

The opposition camp in the upper house, meanwhile, remains combative with the Noda administration, citing the censure motion against Noda passed in the previous Diet session as the reason.
　一方、参院の野党は、首相問責決議を理由に、政権と全面的に対決する構えを示している。

The three parties have also broadly agreed on the passage of a bill in the lower house to revise the National Pension Law to set pension payments at levels reflecting the current decline in prices. They should also work together in approving necessary legislation in the upper house.
　民自公３党は、年金支給額を物価下落に応じ、適正水準に是正する国民年金法改正案の衆院通過でも大筋合意した。参院でも、３党が協力し、必要な法案については成立させるべきである。

Upper house DPJ members have called on the opposition parties to allow the prime minister to deliver his policy speech in the chamber's plenary session as the opposition blocked Noda from doing so. But the DPJ should refrain from unnecessarily provoking them.
　参院民主党は、野党の反対で見送った参院本会議での首相の所信表明演説を求めている。要らざる挑発は控えた方がいいだろう。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Nov. 10, 2012)
（2012年11月10日01時18分 読売新聞）