消費増税反対派 マニフェストの呪縛を解け

The Yomiuri Shimbun (Jun. 19, 2012)
Consumption tax opponents must get over their manifesto fixation
消費増税反対派　マニフェストの呪縛を解け（6月18日付・読売社説）

In the run-up to the Diet vote on bills for comprehensive reform of the social security and taxation systems, centering on the consumption tax hike, confrontations are escalating within the ruling Democratic Party of Japan.
　消費税率引き上げを柱にした社会保障・税一体改革関連法案の採決に向けて、民主党内の対立が激化している。

At this stage, those who are against raising the consumption tax rate persist in arguing that other things must be done first, a stance we find deplorable. They may be breaking ranks against the plan to protect themselves in the next House of Representatives election. It is time for DPJ members to break the spell of their manifesto for the 2009 lower house election, which is the source of internal conflicts.
　この期に及んで「増税の前にやるべきことがある」と反対する姿は見苦しい。次期衆院選への保身ではないか。対立の根幹にある政権公約（マニフェスト）の呪縛を解くべきだ。

Former DPJ President Ichiro Ozawa criticizes Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's policy of raising the consumption tax rate, calling it a suicidal act, a blasphemy against the people and a breach of public trust. He is calling on DPJ members to hew to the party's manifesto pledges.
　小沢一郎元代表は、野田首相の消費税率引き上げ方針を「自殺行為であり、国民に対する冒涜(ぼうとく)、背信行為だ」と批判する。政権交代の原点、２００９年衆院選のマニフェストに戻れと訴えている。

Ozawa and other opponents of raising the consumption tax view the manifesto as a "contract with the people." This is why party discussions over the manifesto end up in unproductive arguments over whether the party will stick to it or discard it. However, the manifesto is simply a set of principles and plans from the time when it was drawn up.
　マニフェストを「国民との契約」と位置づけるから、守る、守らないという非生産的な議論になる。マニフェストは、作成時点での方針や計画に過ぎない。

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Realism, flexibility called for

It is natural for politicians to appropriately and flexibly modify policies in accordance with changes in political and economic circumstances at home and abroad.
　政治家が、内外の政治・経済情勢の変化に応じて、政策を的確かつ柔軟に修正するのは当然だ。

The 2009 manifesto was drawn up at the initiative of Ozawa and others when the DPJ still was in the opposition bloc. But with the feasibility of many manifesto policies having been called into question, it has effectively broken down.
　小沢氏らが主導して野党時代に作った０９年マニフェストの政策の多くは、財源や実現可能性に疑問符がつき、既に破綻している。

The manifesto certainly did not touch on the consumption tax.
　確かにこのマニフェストは、消費税について触れていない。

However, the party's manifesto for the House of Councillors election in 2010 clearly called for the launch of suprapartisan negotiations over comprehensive tax system reform, including the consumption tax.
　だが、１０年の参院選のマニフェストには「消費税を含む税制抜本改革に関する協議を超党派で開始する」と明記されている。

Noda won the DPJ presidential election in August last year, pointing to the need to raise the consumption tax. It is not persuasive at all if opponents continue to insist on the 2009 manifesto, completely neglecting such processes.
　昨年８月の民主党代表選で、野田首相は消費税率引き上げを唱えて勝利した。こうした経緯を全く無視して、０９年のマニフェストに固執しても説得力はない。

Regarding the 2009 lower house election, DPJ Vice President Katsuya Okada said in the Diet: "We won the election in the grand flow of people's wishes for a change in power, rather than as a result of the manifesto." We think he is quite right on this point.
　岡田副総理は、国会で０９年の衆院選について、「マニフェストの結果というより、政権交代を望む国民の大きな流れの中で勝った」と指摘した。その通りだろう。

In a Yomiuri Shimbun opinion poll taken right after the lower house election, nearly 50 percent of respondents said the DPJ won the election because of voter frustration toward then Prime Minister Taro Aso and the Liberal Democratic Party. Only about 10 percent cited people's appreciation of the DPJ manifesto as the reason for its victory.
　衆院選直後の読売新聞の世論調査では、民主党の勝因は「麻生首相や自民党への不満」が５割近くを占め、「民主党のマニフェストへの評価」は１割に過ぎない。

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There's no manifesto referendum

Japanese voters have yet to embrace a system in which they simply pass judgment on a ruling party's ability to realize its lower house manifesto pledges during the four-year term of its lower house members. Moreover, isn't the DPJ manifesto for the 2010 upper house election, in which the party was defeated, still in effect? The party remains unable to sort out even this point.
　衆院選のマニフェストを４年間の任期を通じて実現し、次期衆院選で審判を受ける。そんな図式が有権者に受け入れられているわけでもない。敗北した参院選のマニフェストは生きていないのか、その整理さえついていない。

Furthermore, as the DPJ's defeat in the upper house election resulted in a divided Diet, in which the upper house is controlled by opposition parties, the party is unable to pass bills through the Diet without cooperation from opposition parties.
　さらに、参院選後の衆参ねじれ国会では野党の協力なしに法案は成立しなくなった。

Some of the DPJ's plans, such as creating a new pension system with a minimum guaranteed pension program and abolishing the special health insurance program for those aged 75 and older, are opposed by the LDP and New Komeito. In the divided Diet, how will it be possible for the party to realize such plans?
自民、公明両党が反対する「最低保障年金を柱とする新年金制度創設」や「後期高齢者医療制度の廃止」を一体どうやって実現するというのか。

It is irresponsible for the party to give the manifesto absolute priority, without taking into account changes in the political environment. The DPJ must reconsider the manifesto from its foundation.
　政治環境の変化も考慮せず、マニフェストを絶対視するのは無責任に過ぎる。民主党はマニフェストを根本から考え直すべきだ。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, June 18, 2012)
（2012年6月18日01時17分 読売新聞）