英字新聞

--The Asahi Shimbun, July 18(IHT/Asahi: July 20,2009)
EDITORIAL: LDP in danger of splitting
分裂選挙？―時代錯誤もはなはだしい

Prime Minister Taro Aso apparently has fended off an attempt by a group of Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers to oust him.
　麻生首相がどうやら逃げ切りそうな様相だ。

Aso has rejected the anti-Aso group's demand for a joint plenary meeting of LDP Diet members and is poised to dissolve the Lower House on July 21 for a snap election according to his plan.
「反麻生」の議員らから出されていた自民党両院議員総会の開催要求を退け、予定通り２１日に衆院解散に踏み切る見通しだ。

A wave of criticism against Aso was beginning to emerge within the LDP over the ruling party's historic defeat in the recent Tokyo metropolitan assembly election and the prime minister's move immediately after the election to announce his plan to dissolve the Lower House.
　東京都議選での歴史的大敗とその直後の解散予告をめぐって、党内には首相批判のうねりが起きかけていた。

Aso has said he will hold an informal gathering of party members to address these issues immediately before he calls a general election.
これに対しては、解散の直前に非公式の「懇談会」を開き、首相がみずから釈明するという。

In other words, Aso hopes to settle the situation by allowing critics to "let off steam."
　つまりは「ガス抜き」で事態を収拾しようということなのだろう。

But this is unlikely to calm the anti-Aso group led by former LDP Secretary-General Hidenao Nakagawa, which demanded a plenary party meeting after collecting the signatures of more than 130 party members.
　おさまらないのは、１３０人以上の署名を添えて両院議員総会を求めていた中川秀直元幹事長ら「反麻生」の人々だ。

Nakagawa's group was hoping to have its proposal to move forward the party presidential election approved at the plenary meeting, the LDP's second-highest decision-making institution after the party convention.
党大会に次ぐ議決機関である総会で、あわよくば総裁選の前倒しを決めようと策を練っていた。

Nakagawa and his allies are considering developing their own election manifesto independently of Aso's LDP. Some of them are even proposing to name their own candidate for prime minister.
　中川氏らの間では、麻生自民党とは別に独自のマニフェストをつくって総選挙に臨もうという動きが出ている。新しい首相候補の名前を掲げようという声も聞かれる。

That would cause the LDP to split before the election.
そうなれば、自民党は事実上の分裂選挙に突入する。

If the LDP spends a great deal of energy on an internal power struggle, it remains the party's problem. If the struggle spills over into the Lower House election, however, that would be a different story.
　コップの中の争いにいくら精力を費やそうと自民党の党内問題だが、それが総選挙の場にまであふれ出てくるとなると話は別である。

When Japan had multi-seat constituencies, members of the mainstream factions of the LDP and those of nonmainstream factions were sometimes pitted against each other in the same electoral districts.
　選挙制度が中選挙区制だった時代には、自民党内の主流派と反主流派が分裂して選挙を戦うこともなかったわけではない。

In those days, the LDP could afford to settle internecine struggles through national elections under the solid one-party rule called the "1955 regime" after the year when the party was founded.
自民党政権という大枠は揺るがない５５年体制の下で、党内抗争を選挙で決着させたのだった。

It would be grossly anachronistic and a mistake for the party to readopt this approach in a Lower House election now held under a single-seat constituency system.
　その気分を小選挙区制となった今の総選挙に持ち込むのは、大変な時代錯誤であり、思い違いもはなはだしい。

The core objective of the political reform in the 1990s was a shift from an electoral system focused on individual candidates to a party-oriented system to make a power transfer possible.
　政権交代可能な政治システムを目指して、個人本位から政党本位の選挙制度に転換したのが９０年代の政治改革の核心だ。

The tax-financed program of state subsidies to political parties is based on the assumption of party-oriented politics.
税金からの政党交付金も、政党本位の政治が前提になっている。

Under the current system, voters are supposed to vote for the party they want to govern the nation in their respective electoral districts.
　有権者はそれぞれの選挙区で政権を託す政党を選ぶ。

Party manifestoes are critical informational material for voters to use to make their electoral choices.
その最も大事なよりどころが政党のマニフェストだ。

A party's manifesto for a Lower House election is its covenant with the voting public, spelling out policies the party promises to realize if elected to govern during the four-year term.
政党にとっては、４年間の任期で実現を約束する「国民との契約」である。

If more than one manifesto emerges from a party, voters will find it impossible to make a decision regarding that party.
　同じ党のなかからマニフェストが二つも三つも出てくれば、有権者は選択のしようがなくなってしまう。

That would betray the public trust because the electorate has supported the current direction of political reform.
それは政治改革の流れを後押ししてきた国民への背信だろう。

Aso is responsibile for ensuring the LDP has a unified election manifesto. He must not allow the party to be split before the election, which would greatly confuse voters.
　自民党のマニフェストを一本化する責任は、何と言っても首相にある。分裂選挙となるのを放置し、有権者を惑わすことは許されない。

Aso should bear in mind that simply letting off steam will not settle the situation.
「ガス抜き」で事は決して終わらないことを首相は肝に銘じるべきだ。

We also urge opposition parties to present their manifestoes to voters as early as possible.
　野党にも責任あるマニフェストを早く有権者に示すことを求めたい。

In particular, main opposition Minshuto (Democratic Party of Japan) should set policy priorities and make clear how it intends to realize its proposals within a timeframe of four years and under tight fiscal constraints.
　とりわけ政権をうかがう民主党は、４年間という時間の制約と、限られた財源のなかで、どの政策を優先するのか。

Minshuto needs to show a clear policy vision that also explains how the party will actually run the government.
政権運営の仕組みを含め、分かりやすい青写真を示さねばならない。