英字新聞

The Yomiuri Shimbun (Nov. 19, 2012)
Political system damaged by DPJ's aversion to bureaucracy
民主党政権総括　政治の劣化を招いた「脱官僚」（11月18日付・読売社説）

　◆一体改革法成立は歴史的成果だ◆

The first thing the Democratic Party of Japan should do before the Dec. 16 House of Representatives election is review its past three years and two months in power. Can the DPJ do serious soul-searching on the plethora of issues it has mishandled and reflect the lessons learned in its campaign pledges for the upcoming election?
　衆院選前にまず行うべきは、３年２か月に及ぶ民主党政権の総括だ。数々の失政を真剣に反省して、その教訓を新たな主張に反映できるのかが民主党に問われている。

The public approval rating for the Cabinet of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama was as high as 75 percent when it was inaugurated after the 2009 lower house election. Public approval of the current administration of Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has declined to just 24 percent, showing how the public's initial high expectations of the DPJ were dashed after the change of government.
　読売新聞世論調査では、鳩山内閣発足時の支持率が７５％だったのに対し、現在の野田内閣は２４％。政権交代に対する国民の期待の大きさと失望の広がりを物語る。

Under the DPJ government, the nation's politics have continued to suffer from confusion and stagnation, and this is not just because the Diet is divided. It is mostly because the party is incapable of managing the government.
　民主党政権で政治の混乱と停滞が続いたのは、衆参ねじれ国会だけでなく、政権担当能力の未熟さに起因する部分が大きい。

　◆数々の失政を反省せよ◆

This was symbolized by the DPJ's failed manifesto for the last general election. After reviewing its pledges, the party concluded that only 53 of them--including making tuition at public high schools free--had been implemented during its tenure. The figure represents only about 30 percent of the 170 original promises.
　その象徴が、政権公約（マニフェスト）の破綻だ。民主党自身の検証でも、１７０件の政策のうち実現できたのは、高校無償化など５３件、約３割にとどまる。

The DPJ has many things to reflect on. Among its blunders, it was extremely optimistic to believe it could secure 16.8 trillion yen a year just through tweaking spending plans. It also suffered a setback in seeking to cancel construction of the Yamba Dam in Gunma Prefecture because it made the decision without consulting parties involved.
　予算組み替えで「年１６・８兆円の財源確保が可能」とした甘い見通し、関係者との事前調整なしに掲げた「八ッ場ダムの建設中止」の挫折など、反省点は多い。

The DPJ's misguided "politician-led policymaking" have caused the administration to repeatedly malfunction.
　誤った「政治主導」は、政府の機能を大幅に低下させた。

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DPJ should reflect on blunders

Its budget screening initiative turned out to be nothing more than politicians playing to the gallery by bashing bureaucrats, and the process squeezed out only a limited amount of fiscal resources.
　事業仕分けは、官僚たたきのパフォーマンスに過ぎず、捻出できた財源は限定的だった。

Based on an opposition-like stance, the DPJ took a hostile of view of bureaucrats and shunned the bureaucracy in deciding and carrying out policies. This weakened both the political and bureaucratic systems because public servants only awaited instructions from ministers, and politicians were not informed of important matters.
　野党的体質から官僚を敵視し、「脱官僚」を進めた結果、官僚は指示待ちになる一方、政治家には重要情報が入らず、政官双方の劣化を招いた。

This problem became particularly apparent following the March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami, when Prime Minister Naoto Kan's Cabinet failed to respond promptly. This caused confusion in helping the people in the disaster-hit areas and in dealing with the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
菅内閣での東日本大震災の被災者支援や原発事故対応の遅れと混乱が典型例だ。

Politicians are supposed to fully utilize bureaucrats and try to bring out their best.
　政治家は本来、官僚を使いこなし、その能力を最大限引き出すことにこそ、腐心すべきだ。

When it comes to nuclear energy, the DPJ initially said operations of reactors should be resumed once their safety was confirmed. However, the party abruptly proposed an infeasible zero-nuclear power policy instead, and caused widespread confusion due to insufficient coordination with the United States and domestic local governments that host nuclear power plants.
　当初は、安全性を確認した原発は活用するとしていたのに、場当たり的に非現実的な「原発ゼロ」方針を掲げ、米国や関係自治体との調整不足から迷走を重ねた。

On the economic front, the DPJ could not propose an effective growth strategy even though it promised to revive the nation's economy. It also failed to work together with the business community.
　経済再生を掲げながら実効性ある成長戦略を打ち出せず、経済界との足並みもそろわなかった。

Under the slogan "from concrete to people," the government has slashed spending on public works projects from 7.1 trillion yen for fiscal 2009 to 4.6 trillion yen for fiscal 2012--a decrease that has battered local economies.
　「コンクリートから人」のスローガンの下、政府の公共事業費は当初予算ベースで２００９年度の７・１兆円から１２年度の４・６兆円に減り、地方は疲弊した。

Furthermore, because of other problematic policies such as those for budgetary handouts, the general account appropriations in the initial fiscal 2012 state budget have swollen to 96.7 trillion yen, including budgets for restoration from the Great East Japan Earthquake and related expenditures, from 88.5 trillion yen in fiscal 2009.
　一方で、それ以外のバラマキ政策などによって、一般会計当初予算は、０９年度の８８・５兆円から１２年度は実質９６・７兆円（復興費などを含む）に膨張している。

With the issuance of deficit-covering bonds having exceeded 30 trillion yen every year in recent years, government finances have deteriorated steadily as shown by the fact that the outstanding balance of government debts is expected to reach 709 trillion yen at the end of this fiscal year--a drastic jump from fiscal 2009's 594 trillion yen.
　毎年３０兆円超の赤字国債発行により財政は一層悪化し、国債発行残高は５９４兆円から今年度末に７０９兆円に増える見通しだ。

Former DPJ President Ichiro Ozawa, meanwhile, has failed to take responsibility even after his former secretaries were found guilty in September 2011 of charges of violating the Political Funds Control Law, tarnishing the public's image of the DPJ as a clean party.
　小沢一郎元代表は、元秘書３人が政治資金規正法違反で有罪になっても責任を取らず、民主党のクリーンなイメージを傷つけた。