英字新聞

--The Asahi Shimbun, Dec. 3
EDITORIAL: Henoko court battle raises fundamental question of Japanese democracy
（社説）政府と沖縄県　地方自治は存在するか

“Do local autonomy and democracy really exist in Japan?” was the big question as the trial over the government’s plan to build a new U.S. military base in Okinawa Prefecture got under way.
　「日本には、本当に地方自治や民主主義は存在するのでしょうか」――。

The question posed by Okinawa Governor Takeshi Onaga during the trial’s first hearing at the Fukuoka High Court’s Naha branch on Dec. 2 should be taken very seriously.
沖縄県の翁長雄志知事が、福岡高裁那覇支部の法廷から問いかけた言葉を、重く受け止めたい。

The court battle was triggered by the land minister’s move to demand that the central government be authorized to override Onaga’s decision to invalidate his predecessor’s approval of reclamation work off the Henoko district of Nago, a city in the prefecture. Former Governor Hirokazu Nakaima supported the plan to build a new airbase to replace Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in the crowded city of Ginowan, also in Okinawa.
　米軍普天間飛行場の辺野古移設をめぐり、国土交通相が知事に埋め立て承認取り消しの撤回を求めた、代執行訴訟の初回口頭弁論での意見陳述だ。

When there is a disagreement between the central government and a local entity, it should be worked out through talks.
　国と地方に意見の対立があれば、話し合いで打開するのが本来の姿だ。

The Abe administration’s decision to bring the case to the court represents a refusal to seek a solution to this sticky issue through dialogue, a disturbing sign of the poverty of politics in Japan these days.
それを法廷に持ち込んで押し切ろうとする政府の姿勢は、対話による解決を放棄した政治の貧困を物語る。

The focus of the trial will be on the legitimacy of the administrative procedures in which Onaga’s predecessor approved the reclamation work to build a new base, and those that Onaga used to rescind Nakaima’s administrative action.
　裁判の主な争点は、前知事による埋め立て承認や、翁長知事の承認取り消しが適法だったか、といった行政手続きの可否になるだろう。

But questions raised by this trial far transcend these procedural issues. The dispute also raises some fundamental questions about the principle of local self-government endorsed by the Constitution.
　だが、この裁判が、真の意味で問うものはそれにとどまらない。憲法がうたう地方自治の内実が問われている。

The basic principles of local autonomy that have been upheld by the government’s Committee for the Promotion of Decentralization call for communities to make their own decisions on local issues of their concern and respecting the right to self-determination as much as possible.
　自らの地域のことは、自らの判断で考える。地域の自己決定権をできる限り尊重する。それが政府の地方分権推進委員会の議論で打ち出された地方自治の原則である。

In 1999, the Local Autonomy Law was radically revised in line with these principles.
　その理念に沿って、１９９９年、地方自治法は大幅改正された。

The revision has transformed the relationship between the central and local government from one of higher and lower or between superior and subordinate to a relationship of equals and of cooperation.
国と地方の関係は「上下・主従」から「対等・協力」へと大きく転換したのである。

Now that the central and local governments are on an equal footing, the instances in which the central government restricts a prefectural government’s powers should be very limited in application.
　国と地方が対等となった今、国が県の権限を制限する代執行は極めて限定的であるべきだろう。

From this viewpoint, the Abe administration’s move to file a suit over the case without having sufficient dialogue with Okinawa Prefecture is a far cry from how it should act according to the principle of local autonomy.
その意味でも、十分な対話がないままの政府の提訴は地方自治のあるべき姿とは程遠い。

The administration warns that trust between Japan and the United States could collapse if the plan to relocate the Futenma base to Henoko falls through.
　政府は、辺野古移設が実現できなければ米国との信頼関係が崩壊しかねないという。

If so, why is the administration not trying to win Washington’s understanding of Okinawa’s position on the issue?
ならばなぜ、米国に理解を求めようとしないのか。

Even if diplomacy and national defense are matters that fall within the responsibility of the central government, the intentions of the prefecture involved should not be ignored.
外交・防衛は国の役割だとしても、県の意思が無視されていいはずがない。

The Okinawa prefectural government argues that the presence of U.S. military bases in the prefecture directly violates its right to self-government. 　県は、米軍基地は自治権を直接侵害していると主張する。

These facilities lead to crimes and accidents involving U.S. servicemen and noise pollution by U.S. military aircraft.
米軍兵士らによる犯罪や事故、米軍機による騒音被害を引き起こし、

The privileges granted to the U.S. forces by the bilateral Status of Forces Agreement hamper the prefectural government’s exercise of its administrative power.
日米地位協定による米軍の特権が行政権を妨げる……。

That’s why the prefectural government claims that the construction of a new U.S. military base within Okinawa, which makes up only 0.6 percent of Japanese territory but is home to 73.8 percent of the facilities used exclusively by the U.S. military in Japan, constitutes a violation of its right of self-government guaranteed by the Constitution.
　だからこそ県は、国土面積の０・６％の沖縄に米軍専用施設の７３・８％も集中させていながら、「さらに新たな基地を造ることは自治権の侵害で違憲だ」と主張しているのだろう。

This case has huge implications that go beyond the interests of Okinawa.
　この訴訟は、ひとり沖縄だけの問題ではない。

If it suggests that the central government can adopt an overbearing attitude toward a local government when they are at odds over an issue, the suit has serious implications for all local governments across the nation.
考えの対立する自治体を政府が高圧的に扱えるとすれば、全国の自治体にとっても切実な問題ではないか。

Japan’s local autonomy and democracy have been called into question by the bitter dispute over the plan to relocate the Futenma base to Henoko.
　辺野古移設が問うているのは日本の地方自治、民主主義そのものである。

We are eager to see the court hand down a ruling that moves beyond simply determining the legitimacy of the administrative procedures involved and addresses the more fundamental issues raised by the case.
単なる行政手続きの可否を超えた、踏み込んだ判断を司法に求めたい。