英字新聞

The Yomiuri Shimbun June 25, 2013
Abenomics helped LDP, Komeito score huge victory in Tokyo poll
都議選自公完勝　アベノミクスへの期待票だ（6月24日付・読売社説）

The administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been given a significant boost. It remains to be seen whether the voters’ verdict this time will affect the outcome of next month’s House of Councillors election.
　安倍政権にとっては大きな追い風だ。
　有権者の政権に対する支持が本物かどうかは、来月の参院選で試されることになろう。

In the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election on Sunday, all of the Liberal Democratic Party’s candidates were elected, and the LDP regained its status as the largest party in the assembly. The LDP’s coalition partner, New Komeito, also succeeded in having all of its candidates elected, and it took over as the second-largest force.
　東京都議選で自民党は候補者全員が当選し、都議会第１党を奪還した。公明党も手堅く全勝し、第２党の座を占めた。

The LDP and Komeito, which form the ruling coalition, threw their support behind Tokyo Gov. Naoki Inose and together far exceeded a majority of seats in the 127-seat assembly. The metropolitan government will certainly gain stability.
猪瀬直樹知事の与党である自公両党の議席が過半数を大幅に超え、都政が安定するのは間違いない。

DPJ trounced

As there were few contentious issues on how to steer the administration of the metropolitan government, the assembly election, the first major electoral contest since the second Abe Cabinet was launched in December, focused mainly on the public’s evaluation of Abenomics, the Abe administration’s handling of economic policies.
　第２次安倍内閣の発足後、初の大型選挙となった都議選では、都政に関する大きな争点が不在だったこともあって、もっぱら安倍政権の経済政策「アベノミクス」に対する評価が焦点となった。

Given the landslide victory of both the LDP and Komeito, it can safely be said the Abe administration’s key policies and its government management received a favorable rating from Tokyo voters.
　自公両党の完勝によって、安倍政権の政策と政権運営は、前向きの評価を得たと言える。

However, there have been a number of recent cases in which candidates backed by the LDP have lost to incumbents in local contests, including the June 16 gubernatorial election in Shizuoka Prefecture.
　ただ、静岡県知事選など最近の地方選では、自民党系の候補が現職に敗れるケースが目立つ。

Commenting on the results of the Tokyo assembly election, Abe told reporters, “What we need now is to brace ourselves by deepening our sense of humility.”
安倍首相は選挙後、「今求められているのは、一層謙虚に身を引き締めていくことだ」と語った。

The DPJ, which became the largest party after the previous Tokyo assembly election in 2009, suffered a shattering defeat, plunging to fourth position in the assembly. This appears to reflect the deep-rooted distrust of voters after the party committed a number of serious blunders over the handling of national politics. It is evident that the party has failed to stop its decline in strength.
　前回都議選で第１党に進出した民主党は、地滑り的な大敗を喫し、第４党に転落した。国政で失政を重ねたことに対する有権者の不信感が、いまだに根強いことの証左である。退潮傾向に歯止めはかからなかったと言えよう。

In its latest electoral campaign, the DPJ stressed the negative aspects of Abenomics by taking note of the current erratic fluctuations of stock prices and exchange rates. The party’s unyielding reproach against the government without offering counterproposals apparently failed to satisfy the electorate.
　民主党は、株価や為替相場が乱高下していることなどから、アベノミクスのマイナス面を訴えた。だが、批判一辺倒で説得力に欠けたのではないか。

In the upcoming upper house race, the DPJ should have in-depth policy discussions with the LDP by presenting specific policy measures that offer an alternative to government policies.
　参院選では、具体的な対案を示し、自民党との政策論争を深めてもらいたい。

Despite fielding a large number of candidates in the Tokyo assembly race, Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Restoration Party) fared extremely poorly. This was probably due to remarks by the party’s coleader Toru Hashimoto regarding the issue of so-called comfort women.
　日本維新の会は大量の候補を擁立したにもかかわらず、全く振るわなかった。橋下共同代表のいわゆる従軍慰安婦問題をめぐる発言が響いたのだろう。

During the campaign, former Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara, the other party coleader, complained about Hashimoto. In response, Hashimoto hinted he might step down from the party’s top post depending on the outcome of the Tokyo contest.
　石原共同代表が選挙期間中に橋下氏に苦言を呈し、橋下氏も都議選の結果次第では辞任もあり得ると発言する事態にまで至った。

It should be noted that Tokyo is Ishihara’s hometown. The disastrous defeat of Ishin no Kai should be attributed partly to the dwindling influence of Ishihara over Tokyo voters.
　ただ、東京は石原氏の地元だ。今回の惨敗は石原氏の影響力低下に負う面も小さくない。

Link with upper house race

Your Party, which withdrew from an electoral cooperation accord with Ishin no Kai because of the Hashimoto remarks on the comfort women issue, did remarkably well considering it fought the election single-handedly. The party seems to have obtained some degree of support from floating voters who are averse to the LDP and the DPJ.
　みんなの党は、橋下発言を機に維新との選挙協力を解消して選挙に臨んだが、躍進した。自民、民主両党に批判的な無党派層の一定の受け皿になったと見られる。

The Japanese Communist Party doubled its seats in the Tokyo assembly to become the third-largest party in the assembly. This may be due to the low turnout compared with the previous Tokyo assembly election as well as its solid support base on the strength of its organizational skills.
　共産党も議席を倍増し、民主党を抜いて第３党に進出した。投票率が前回を大きく下回ったことなどが、組織力のある政党を押し上げたと言えよう。

Attention is now focused on how the respective parties’ vote-garnering capabilities that have been demonstrated in the Tokyo race may affect the electoral landscape for the July upper house election.
　今回の都議選で表れた各党の得票動向が、参院選にどう連動するか注目される。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, June 24, 2013)
（2013年6月24日01時40分 読売新聞）