英字新聞

The Yomiuri Shimbun (Jan. 1, 2010)
Leaders must chart new political course
「ニッポン漂流」を回避しよう　今ある危機を乗り越えて（1月1日付・読売社説）

　◆国家戦略を示すときだ◆
Will the nation's economy pick up? Will we be able to continue to receive medical and nursing care with a sense of assurance? Will a rift appear in Japan-U.S. relations?
　景気はよくなるか。医療、介護が安心して受けられるか。日米関係に亀裂は入らないか。

Many people doubtless greeted the New Year with such concerns because the nation's lack of political direction and ongoing economic stagnation inspire fear rather than expectations in people and bring a sense of resignation rather than hope.
　多くの国民が、こんな不安を胸に新年を迎えたに違いない。日本の将来に、期待よりも懸念、希望よりもあきらめを強く抱かせるような、政治の迷走、経済の停滞が続いているからだ。

The primary reasons stem from Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's administration not only lacking the sort of mid- and long-term national strategy needed to maintain peace, prosperity and a safe, secure society, but also its failure to clearly show the people the course that the nation should take at the moment.
　主な原因は、鳩山連立政権が日本の平和と繁栄、安心社会を維持するための、中長期の国家戦略を欠くうえに、当面の針路すら国民に明示できないことにある。

Without a national strategy, Japan will be left adrift on the rough seas of global politics--a dreadful situation.
　国家戦略なき日本は、国際社会の荒波の中で孤立化し、やがては漂流することになろう。これでは困るのだ。

Which direction should Japan take? What sort of nation should Japan seek to be? How will the nation draw its new state image? Our political leaders must shoulder the responsibility for guiding the nation through this critical time and present a bold national strategy to do so.
　日本が進むべき道は何か。どんな国造りを目指すのか。新しい国家像をどう描くのか。危機を乗り越える具体的な処方箋(せん)とともに、骨太な国家戦略を示すこと、それが政治に課された責任である。

　◆連立の弊害をただせ◆
The dysfunctional nature of the Hatoyama administration is the result of the disproportionate influence wielded by the smaller members of the ruling coalition, the insistence on adhering strictly to the manifesto touted by the Democratic Party of Japan during the House of Representatives election in implementing policies and the obstinate stance of excluding bureaucrats from the policymaking process.
　鳩山政権の機能不全は、大きく言えばキャスチングボート政治、マニフェスト至上主義、官僚排除に由来する。

In addition, there is the scandal over questionable political donations involving Hatoyama's political fund management organization. Hatoyama has made it clear he intends to leave the matter of whether he should resign up to the voters. Depending on how public sentiment develops, it could lead to political upheaval. It also is possible that Japan's political world could be thrown into turmoil.
　加えて、鳩山首相自身の献金問題だ。首相は進退を世論に委ねる意向を明らかにしたが、展開次第では政変に結びつく。日本政治が激動する可能性もあろう。

We cannot overlook the present situation in which the DPJ, the predominant party in the ruling camp, is at the mercy of its junior coalition partners--the Social Democratic Party and the People's New Party--which, despite their small number of seats, hold the key to the fate of bills in the House of Councillors, distorting the fundamentals of the nation's foreign and security policies and fiscal and economic management.
　小所帯ながら参院で法案成否の鍵を握る社民、国民新両党が大勢力の民主党を振り回し、外交・安全保障や財政・経済運営の基本をゆがめる現状は看過できない。

The Hatoyama administration's postponing of its decision on the relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station in Okinawa Prefecture typifies this situation.
　象徴的事例が、米軍普天間飛行場移設問題の決着先送りだ。

Hatoyama's indecision and the intercession of DPJ Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa and other officials whose top priority is maintaining the ruling coalition have led to the present critical juncture in the Japan-U.S. alliance.
鳩山首相の優柔不断もさることながら、連立政権維持を優先する民主党の小沢幹事長らの思惑により、日米同盟の危機が指摘される事態になっている。

===

1955 model worked

The merger of the Liberal Party and the Japan Democratic Party to create the Liberal Democratic Party in November 1955 was born out of a sense of crisis as these conservative parties witnessed the unification of the left and right factions of the Japan Socialist Party in October of the same year. Yet it was also aimed at heading off a power struggle among small splinter parties.
　１９５５年の保守合同は、左右両派社会党の統一を目にした保守陣営の危機感から誕生したが、小党乱立の弊害を除くねらいもあった。

Then Deputy Prime Minister Taketora Ogata pointed out that leaving the deciding vote in the Diet in the hands of small parties would shake the public's trust in political rule by the majority, and emphasized the urgent need to bring political stability with the merger.
　緒方竹虎(おがたたけとら)副総理が、小党のキャスチングボートは多数決政治の信頼を揺るがすと指摘、保守合同による「政局の安定は現下爛頭(らんとう)の急務」と強調したゆえんである。

Although there were pros and cons to the so-called 1955 regime--in which the LDP controlled both houses of the Diet, and the JSP held roughly half the number of seats held by the LDP in each house--there is no doubt that it secured the nation's peace on the basis of the Japan-U.S. alliance and built the foundations for political stability under the LDP's single-party control and for the ensuing economic growth.
　５５年体制には功罪あるが、日米同盟に基づいて日本の平和を確保し、自民党一党支配による政局の安定と、それに伴う経済成長の礎を築いたことは間違いない。

The Hatoyama Cabinet is under pressure to take the deciding vote away from its junior coalition partners.
　鳩山内閣はキャスチングボート政治からの脱却が迫られている。

When it comes to important policies and bills that could determine the fate of the nation and have a major impact on people's lives, the administration should not hesitate to form a temporary alliance and cooperate with opposition parties or even to form a national-unity administration through a bold political reorganization.
国の命運がかかり、国民生活の基盤が左右されるような重要政策・法案の成否に当たっては、野党とも提携する「部分連合」や、大胆な政界再編による「挙国政権」づくりをためらうべきではない。