小沢・輿石会談 無茶な要求には付き合えない

The Yomiuri Shimbun (Jul. 1, 2012)
DPJ should firmly refuse Ozawa's unreasonable demand
小沢・輿石会談　無茶な要求には付き合えない（6月30日付・読売社説）

Former Democratic Party of Japan President Ichiro Ozawa has made an unreasonable demand connected to his threats to bolt from the party. This tactic is fitting for the man dubbed the "destroyer," but we urge the DPJ leadership to flatly refuse his demand.
　「離党カード」をちらつかせ、理不尽な要求を突きつける――。まさに「壊し屋」らしい手法だが、民主党執行部は断固拒否すべきだ。

Ozawa held talks with DPJ Secretary General Azuma Koshiishi three times and said that he intends to leave the party with a group of lawmakers who support him if bills related to comprehensive reform of the social security and taxation systems are voted on and passed at the House of Councillors.
　民主党の小沢一郎元代表が輿石幹事長と３回にわたり会談し、社会保障・税一体改革関連法案を参院で採決、成立させるなら、自らのグループを率いて集団離党する考えを伝えた。

Koshiishi urged Ozawa to reconsider, and negotiations between them are continuing. Ozawa expressed his intention to make a final decision on whether to leave the DPJ as early as the beginning of next week.
　輿石氏は、翻意を求め、調整が続いている。小沢氏は週明けには結論を出したい意向という。

Ozawa's demand is very unreasonable and impossible for Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda to accept, as he has staked his own political career on passage of the bills.
　小沢氏の要求は、法案成立に政治生命を懸ける野田首相が到底容認できない、無茶なものだ。

However, it is a problem that Koshiishi is considering making some concessions to avoid a split in the DPJ.
　問題なのは、輿石氏が、党分裂を回避しようと、何らかの妥協を検討していることである。

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Tail wagging the dog

The bills were revised based on an agreement reached among the ruling DPJ, the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito. The agreement has significant meaning since it was compiled based on mutual concessions among the three parties.
　関連法案は、民主、自民、公明の３党合意に基づき、修正された。３党合意は、各党が譲り合ってまとめたもので、極めて重い。

However, Ozawa and a few dozen DPJ lawmakers cast ballots against the bills in the House of Representatives. Since that meant a rebellion against the three-way agreement, the LDP and Komeito have responded strongly against their action.
　小沢氏らが法案の衆院採決で反対したことは、３党合意への造反を意味し、自民、公明両党は強く反発している。

Nonetheless, if the DPJ leadership makes concessions to win Ozawa over, it will be the tail wagging the dog.
それなのに、小沢氏を懐柔するために、民主党執行部が妥協するのは本末転倒だ。

The rebellion by Ozawa and others is the inevitable price the DPJ leadership must pay for closing its eyes and trying to cover up serious intraparty conflict over policy issues in the name of maintaining harmony within the DPJ. The chasm in the DPJ is already beyond repair.
　小沢氏らの造反は、党執行部が「党内融和」の名の下、深刻な路線対立に目をつぶり、糊塗(こと)してきたツケにほかならない。党内の亀裂は、もはや修復不能である。

What Koshiishi should do is hand down a tough punishment for Ozawa.
　輿石氏が今すべきは、小沢氏に厳しい処分を下すことだ。

First, Ozawa's claim lacks legitimacy, even though he sticks fast to the DPJ's election pledges and insists that the party must carry out its promises to voters.
　そもそも民主党の政権公約（マニフェスト）に固執し、「国民との約束を実行する」との小沢氏の主張には、正当性がない。

Nearly two years and 10 months have passed since the DPJ took power. The party's manifesto said it would be possible to generate a total of 16.8 trillion yen annually by squeezing the state budget, but that has already fallen by the wayside. Ozawa was DPJ secretary general for more than eight months, but there is no evidence that he tried to make the election pledges a reality at that time.
　政権交代後、２年１０か月近くになる。年間１６・８兆円の財源捻出が可能としたマニフェストは完全に破綻している。小沢氏自身、幹事長を８か月以上務めながら、公約実現に動いた形跡はない。

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Ozawa implausible

Ozawa is now arguing that other things should be done before raising the consumption tax rate or that the DPJ should return to the starting point at which the party took power from the LDP. But nobody can trust Ozawa unless he clearly shows concrete measures for administrative reform and economic revival.
　今になって、「増税の前にやるべきことがある」「民主党は政権交代の原点に戻れ」などと唱えても、説得力のある行政改革や景気改善の具体策を明示しなければ、信用できるはずがない。

Ozawa joined the DPJ after forming and dissolving the Japan Renewal Party (Shinseito), the New Frontier Party (Shinshinto) and the Liberal Party since his exit from the LDP 19 years ago.
　小沢氏は１９年前に自民党を離党して以来、新生、新進、自由の各党の結成・解散を繰り返した後、民主党に合流した。

He is attached to a high-handed and self-righteous political style, which prioritizes political gamesmanship over policy measures, and also to money politics.
政策より政局を重視する、強引で独善的な政治手法や、金権体質を今も引きずっている。

"First of all, I myself must change," Ozawa declared in April 2006 when he assumed the post of DPJ president.
　２００６年４月、小沢氏は民主党代表に就任する際、「まず私自身が変わらなければならない」と大見えを切った。

However, his moves toward departure from the party show that Ozawa's political style has not changed at all.
　だが、今回の離党に向けた動きは、小沢流の政治が何ら変わっていないことを裏付けている。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, June 30, 2012)
（2012年6月30日01時16分 読売新聞）