ロシア下院選 陰りうかがえるプーチン支配

The Yomiuri Shimbun (Dec. 7, 2011)
Putin's grip on power wanes as public discontent grows
ロシア下院選　陰りうかがえるプーチン支配（12月6日付・読売社説）

Results of Sunday's elections in Russia have shown in black and white the mounting public discontent with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who has dominated power for more than a decade.
　ロシアの実権を長年にわたり握り続けるプーチン首相に対し、不満が高まっていることを浮き彫りにした選挙結果だ。

The United Russia party led by Putin lost many seats in the State Duma, or the lower house.
　ロシア下院選で、プーチン氏の率いる与党「統一ロシア」が、議席を大きく減らした。

The party fell far short of its goal of holding the two-thirds of the 450 seats--the number needed to revise the Russian Constitution--that it held before the election. It did no better than maintain a majority.
　定数４５０議席のうち、憲法改正に必要な３分の２の議席を占めていた「現状維持」の目標達成には及ばず、過半数を維持するにとどまった。

The largest opposition Communist Party, which has criticized growing income gaps and called for a fairer distribution of wealth, increased its preelection representation of 57 seats by more than 30 seats.
　所得格差拡大を批判し、富の公正な分配を求めた最大野党の共産党が、選挙前の５７議席から、３０以上も議席を増やした。

This indicates many voters who had become disillusioned with the government voted for the Communists.
政権に対する不満の受け皿となった形だ。

The popularity of Putin, who is widely believed to be a shoo-in in next year's presidential election, seems to be on the wane.
　来年の大統領選で当選が確実視されているプーチン氏も、その人気に陰りがうかがえる。

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Communist Party prevails

The lower house poll was the second since the Russian election system was changed to hold elections only through proportional representation. The new system was believed to be extremely advantageous for the ruling party because it has an extensive national network of organizations.
　今回の下院選は、選挙制度改革で比例選だけになってから２度目の選挙で、強固な全国組織を持つ与党にきわめて有利と見られていた。

Political groups with fewer local chapters are not officially recognized as political parties and thus are not allowed to run in elections.
地方支部が少ない政治団体は政党として認められず、選挙に参加できないからだ。

Nevertheless, the ruling party has suffered a setback. Putin admitted this "reflects the real situation" in Russia. 　にもかかわらず、与党が不振だったことについて、プーチン氏は「今のロシアの現実を反映する」とコメントした。

The election result might have been unexpected, but he must accept it gravely.
思わぬ誤算だったのかもしれないが、重く受け止めざるを得ないだろう。

After Putin was elected president in 2000, he served two terms spanning eight years. In 2008, he handed the presidency to Dmitry Medvedev and instead became prime minister to keep his grip on power.
　プーチン氏は、２０００年から大統領職を２期８年間務め、０８年に大統領職をメドベージェフ氏に委ねたのち、首相の座にとどまって実権を握ってきた。

Medvedev trumpeted slogans of establishing the rule of law and fostering high-tech industries, but he will leave office next spring without achieving anything significant.
　メドベージェフ大統領は、法治主義の確立と先端産業育成を旗印に掲げたが、十分な成果をあげないまま、来春、任期を終える。

Putin will have no strong rival in the presidential election scheduled for next March.
　プーチン氏には、来年３月の大統領選で有力な対抗馬がいない。

In fact, he still has strong support from many Russian people.
いまだに国民多数の根強い支持を得ていることも事実だ。

But if he has aspirations of holding on to the presidency in the long term, he will have to tackle a host of issues.
しかし、長期政権の維持を目指すにしても、課題は山積している。

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Corruption still rife

Corruption that has spread its tentacles to the furthest reaches of the bureaucracy has yet to be eradicated.
　官僚組織の末端にまで及ぶ汚職の蔓延(まんえん)は、いっこうに改善されていない。

By forging close ties with the bureaucratic machine, United Russia appears to be monopolizing the nation's rights and interests.
「統一ロシア」は官僚とつながり、利権を独占していると見られている。

Strong public dissatisfaction with this was a factor behind the ruling party's poor election showing.
国民の強い不満が、与党不振の一因にもなった。

The Russian economy has been unable to break away from its reliance on energy resources, so the country's revenue is largely influenced by fluctuations in crude oil prices.
　経済は、エネルギー資源に依存する体質から脱却できず、原油価格の変動で国家の歳入は大きく左右される。

Many Russians are worried the debt crisis roiling Europe--Moscow's biggest trading partner--will affect their country.
最大の貿易相手の欧州が債務危機に苦しむのを見て、ロシアにも影響が及ぶのではないかと国民は不安を感じている。

It is evident that Russia needs to implement political, economic and social reforms.
　ロシアが、政治、経済、社会の各分野で、改革を必要としているのは明らかだ。

Putin will need to squarely deal with challenges that have been put off for years and produce tangible results.
プーチン氏は、こうした積年の課題に正面から取り組み、成果を出していかなければならない。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Dec. 6, 2011)
（2011年12月6日01時11分 読売新聞）