復興構想会議 首相の指針が見えない

(Mainichi Japan) April 27, 2011
Kan needs to display leadership, show clear vision for disaster relief policy
社説：復興構想会議　首相の指針が見えない

A newly established advisory committee to Prime Minister Naoto Kan, tasked to work out a vision on countermeasures for the Great East Japan Earthquake, is divided over how to secure financial resources for these procedures and other important topics. It is highly doubtful whether the panel, headed by National Defense Academy President Makoto Iokibe, will work out effective and efficient countermeasures.
　東日本大震災の復興ビジョンを提言する菅直人首相の諮問機関「復興構想会議」（五百旗頭真議長）が早くも迷走気味だ。財源問題で意見が割れるなど、実効性ある構想を打ち出せるかが危ぶまれている。

The panel is comprised of prominent figures, but its discussions will be too abstract unless the government coordinates views between the committee and ministries and agencies concerned and facilitates the panel's communications with local governments and residents of disaster-hit areas and its discussions with experts from various fields. The prime minister should clarify the purpose and mission of the panel to map out a clear vision.
　メンバーはそうそうたる顔ぶれだが中央省庁との調整、被災地との意思疎通、各分野での専門家との議論に万全を期さないと会議の存在自体が宙に浮きかねない。百家争鳴の議論に終始しないためにも、首相は会議の目的と使命をより明確に示すべきである。

Iokibe's proposal at the outset of the panel's first meeting that a disaster-relief tax be created stirred controversy between members, forcing the group to shelve the issue of financial resources for the time being.
　復興構想会議でまず論議を呼んだのは五百旗頭氏が初会合で「震災復興税」の創設を提言したことだ。結局、会議内でも意見が分かれたため、財源問題は当面棚上げされる方向となった。

It is true that Iokibe's proposal triggered much needed discussions between ruling and opposition parties on how to secure financial resources for quake-relief and restoration measures. However, the panel's primary mission is to show a vision on disaster countermeasures that can persuade taxpayers to accept tax hikes. Kan is to blame for the confusion within the panel because the prime minister, who set up the group, has failed to show his clear policy on the issue in the first place.
　五百旗頭氏の発言を受けてようやく財源問題が与野党で議論になり始めたのも事実だが、増税に値する説得力のあるビジョンをまず描くのが構想会議の役割だ。そもそも設置した首相からの指針が明確でない点が混乱を生んだと言えよう。

Concern has been raised that the panel could be isolated within the government. Since no bureaucrat is on the panel, ministries and agencies concerned could question the effectiveness of disaster-relief and restoration measures worked out by the panel and reject it. Although the governors of three quake-hit prefectures in the Tohoku region are members of the committee, it is highly questionable how far they can represent opinions and requests by local municipalities and residents.
　構想会議が孤立する懸念もある。有識者メンバーに官僚出身者がいないため青写真を描いた段階で中央省庁に実現性を疑問視され、拒否されるおそれがある。被災した東北３県の知事が参加しているが、地元市町村や住民から出ている意見をどこまで吸収できるかも気がかりだ。

On the other hand, a subcommittee on specific measurers is comprised of many experts in disaster prevention and regional revitalization.
　一方で構想会議の下部機関として置かれた検討部会には防災、地域おこしなど実務に通じた人材も多い。

It is feared that the two entities' discussions will overlap as the division of their roles remains unclear.
役割分担があいまいなまま議論が重複することになりはしないか。

In order to prevent the committee from falling apart, it is necessary for the government to not only clarify its role in relevant legislation but also steer it in an appropriate manner. The panel, deputy chief Cabinet secretaries who represent a liaison council between ministries and agencies and top officials of the subcommittee should regularly consult with each other to facilitate their communications and share their common objectives.
　空中分解を避けるには復興基本法案など法律で構想会議の位置づけを明確にするだけでなく、運営にも工夫がいる。構想会議、各府省連絡会議を代表する官房副長官、検討部会の代表らがひんぱんに協議し意思疎通や目的の共有に努めるべきだ。

Some constructive discussions are under way, including those on a proposal by Miyagi Gov. Yoshihiro Murai on a specific vision on the restoration of disaster-ravaged areas. The situation varies depending on each disaster-hit area -- from coastal regions and the plains to areas where residents have been evacuated following the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant. Panel members as well as government officials are required to reflect these communities' requests and opinions on the disaster's countermeasures.
　宮城県の村井嘉浩知事が具体的な被災地再生ビジョンを提起するなど建設的な議論も起きている。被災地は沿岸、平野部、原発事故による住民避難地域などかなり事情が違う。地元の多様な声を構想に反映させる意識が求められる。

The government will draft a second supplementary budget as early as this summer to finance the disaster countermeasures. The committee says it will make proposals on such measures by the end of June, but it is highly doubtful whether it is in time for the government's compilation of the extra budget draft.
　政府は今夏にも震災対策の第２弾となる２次補正予算案を編成する予定だ。構想会議は６月末までに提言をまとめるというが２次補正に本当に間に合うのか、現状の体制とスケジュールではこころもとない。

An advisory panel on relief and restoration measures set up following the Great Hanshin Earthquake in January 1995 that devastated Kobe and surrounding areas made its first set of proposals less than two weeks after its first meeting.
　９５年の阪神大震災の際に置かれた提言機関「阪神・淡路復興委員会」は初会合から１２日足らずで最初の提言をしている。

Prime Minister Kan must be aware of his responsibility to clearly show the scope and the order of priority of themes that the committee should discuss in order to help it propose effective and efficient countermeasures.
首相は取り組むテーマの範囲や優先順位を示し、構想会議を機動的に活用する責任を自覚しなければならない。

毎日新聞　2011年4月27日　2時32分