原発事故調―新しい国会の試金石に

2011/10/02
--The Asahi Shimbun, Oct. 1
EDITORIAL: Diet panel must focus on disaster, not politics.
原発事故調―新しい国会の試金石に

A law to establish a parliamentary panel to investigate the disastrous accident at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant was enacted on Sept. 30.
　国会に東電福島第一原発事故の調査委員会を設ける法律が、きのう成立した。

It marks the first time that the Diet has put together such an investigative body, which is composed of private-sector experts.
民間の有識者による調査機関が国会にできるのは憲政史上初めてだ。

Under the check-and-balance system of separation of powers, it is one of the principal jobs of the legislature to monitor the administrative body of government.
　三権分立のもと、行政府をチェックするのは立法府本来の仕事であり、

The law has set the stage for the Diet to do that in regards to the government's response to the nuclear disaster.
その機能を果たすべき舞台をしつらえた格好だ。

The government has already set up its own inquiry panel to look into the accident. Headed by Yotaro Hatamura, a University of Tokyo professor emeritus and expert in analyzing system failures, the government panel is expected to publish an interim report in December.
　政府には、「失敗学」を提唱する畑村洋太郎東大名誉教授をトップとする調査・検証委員会がある。１２月に中間報告を予定している。

Even so, the government's investigative committee has no legally established authority.
　ただ、法律で権限が保障されているわけではない。

It has already questioned 275 people as part of its inquiry, but the questioning has had to be conducted through interviews behind closed doors instead of at public hearings in order to gain the cooperation of those testifying.
相手方の協力を得るため、これまで延べ２７５人からのヒアリングも非公開でやっている。

The Liberal Democratic Party and other opposition parties have questioned whether a committee set up by the government can really get to the bottom of the government's failure and uncover the truth.
　自民党など野党からは「政府がつくった委員会が、本当に政府の失態に踏み込み、追及しきれるのか」という懸念が示されていた。

We share that doubt.
私たちも同意見だ。

In contrast, the envisioned Dietary investigative committee will be able to force people to testify as sworn witnesses through a council of 20 Diet members that will serve as the supervisory body for the panel.
　これに対し、国会の事故調は上部機関として設ける国会議員２０人による協議会を通じて強制的に証人喚問ができる。

The committee will also have the power to bring perjury charges against a witness who has lied by exercising the constitutional right of the Diet to investigate state affairs.
国政調査権に基づき、うそを言えば偽証罪での告発もできる。

The panel's hearings will be open to the public, in most instances.
議事は原則公開される。

The Dietary panel is expected to get to the truth by taking advantage of its compelling power and the transparency of its activities, and by building on the work done by the government's inquiry body.
　強力な権限と透明性を武器に、政府の調査・検証委の成果を踏まえつつ、真相に迫ることが期待される。

There is, however, one big concern.
　だが、大きな懸念がある。

The ruling Democratic Party of Japan initially rejected opposition demand for the establishment of a Diet panel to probe the accident.
　野党の設置要求に、民主党が応じてこなかったのは、

The DPJ was concerned that the panel might be used politically as a weapon to attack the government over how former Prime Minister Naoto Kan and other top officials responded to the nuclear crisis.
菅前首相らの初動対応などに絡めて、政権批判を展開されることを警戒したからだ。

On the other hand, the DPJ wants to draw public attention to problems with the nuclear power policy of the past LDP government, which failed to take sufficient measures to protect nuclear power plants against such risks as major tsunamis and the loss of all power sources.
　一方で、与党は大津波や全電源喪失に十分備えてこなかった自民党政権下の原発行政の問題点に矛先を向けたい。

If the ruling and opposition parties, driven by their different political motives, engage in partisan bickering over the panel's work at the divided Diet, the investigation could turn into a prolonged "blame-game" fueled by mutual criticism.
　こんな与野党の思惑が、ねじれ国会で激突すれば、責任の押しつけ合いや非難合戦になってしまう可能性がある。

Let's get things straight.
　ここは明確にしておこう。

The mission of the Diet's inquiry panel is not to lay blame on specific people.
　事故調が最優先で取り組むべきは、誰が悪いのかという犯人捜しではない。

Rather, its job is to study relevant data carefully to glean useful lessons from what happened to ensure that such a catastrophic nuclear accident will never happen again.
綿密にデータを検証し、二度と今回のような惨事を起こさないための教訓をくみ取ることだ。

It is our nation's responsibility to the international community to make such efforts, and the Diet should take it very seriously.
　それは、国際社会に対する重い責任でもある。

Both the ruling and opposition parties should recognize this and cooperate fully with the panel, starting with the selection of its 10 members, who should be experts with broad viewpoints.
　まず、この認識を与野党が共有し、視野の広い学識経験者１０人の委員選びから協調すべきだ。

The parties should strike an agreement to refrain from using the committee for partisan attempts to score political points.
各党は「党派的な立場から委員会を政治的に利用してはならない」という申し合わせを守らねばならない。

Will the panel be able to achieve anything that can survive close scrutiny by future historians?
　事故調が、後世の歴史家の検証に堪える成果を残せるかどうか。

That will be an acid test of the political integrity, as well as the investigative ability, of the Diet.
国会の実力が試される。

If things go well, the panel's work will not only reduce public distrust of politics but also set a valuable precedent for a new role the Diet can play.
　うまく行けば、国民の政治不信を和らげるだけでなく、新しい国会の役割を切り開く貴重な先例になる。