通常国会閉幕 停滞打破へ与野党は知恵絞れ

The Yomiuri Shimbun (Sep. 9, 2012)
Ruling, opposition blocs must rise above politicking
通常国会閉幕　停滞打破へ与野党は知恵絞れ（9月8日付・読売社説）

The ordinary session of the Diet, which has lasted more than seven months, adjourns on Saturday.
　７か月余に及んだ通常国会が８日閉幕する。

Relative to its long duration, the session cannot be considered very productive.
　長丁場の割には、非生産的だった。

There is an urgent need for both the ruling and opposition blocs to work out reforms of the legislature to break away from "politics incapable of making decisions."
　「決められない政治」から脱却するための国会改革に、与野党で取り組む必要がある。

The most important achievement in this Diet session was the enactment of a set of laws for comprehensive reform of the social security and tax systems.
It is significant that the long-overdue task of raising the consumption tax rate has been accomplished through cooperation among the Democratic Party of Japan, the Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito.
　最大の成果は、社会保障・税一体改革関連法の成立である。民主党と自民、公明両党が連携し、長年の懸案であった消費税率引き上げを決めた意義は大きい。

In a news conference on Friday, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda declared, "The stalemate of politics can surely be surmounted only if we politicians have a strong sense of responsibility and resolve, seeing things from a broad perspective."
　野田首相は記者会見で「政治家が使命感と覚悟を持ち、大局に立てば、政治の停滞を打破できる」と強調した。その通りだろう。

He is right to say so.

Cooperation among the DPJ, the LDP and Komeito, however, has been limited to a very narrow range, leaving a pile of Diet business unaddressed.
　だが、民自公の連携はごく一部に限られ、多くの懸案が残った。

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DPJ leadership clumsy

The passage rate of fresh government-sponsored bills during this ordinary session was 66 percent, the second-lowest in the past 20 years. Both the ruling and opposition parties must do serious soul-searching about this.
政府が新規提出した法案のうち成立は６６％で、この２０年間で２番目に低い水準だ。与野党とも大いに反省しなければならない。

The impasse cannot be attributed only to the divided state of the Diet, with the opposition controlling the House of Councillors while the ruling camp has a majority in the House of Representatives.
　国会停滞の原因は、衆参のねじれだけではない。

As LDP President Sadakazu Tanigaki has pointed out, imbroglios within the DPJ have hampered steering of state affairs.
自民党の谷垣総裁は、民主党の混乱が国政の遂行を妨げた、と指摘した。

There were some conspicuous instances of poor management of Diet affairs by the DPJ leadership during the session. For instance, the issue of Diet approval of personnel appointments for a nuclear regulatory commission has been left unrealized due to the DPJ's clumsy handling of the matter.
　確かに、民主党執行部の稚拙な対応が目立った。例えば、原子力規制委員会人事の国会同意が実現しなかったことである。

After the government decided on candidates for the chairman and other members of the commission, one objection after another arose within the DPJ. The party leadership, fearful of internal rebellion, postponed votes on the candidates in both the lower and upper chambers' plenary sessions. The DPJ should be criticized for lacking awareness of its duty to shore up the government.
　政府が決めた委員長と委員の候補に対し、民主党内から異論が相次ぎ、造反を恐れた党執行部は、衆参両院本会議での議決を見送った。民主党には政府を支える自覚が足りないと言えよう。

Delay in launching the nuclear regulatory commission, which is to be in charge of revamping the administration for ensuring nuclear safety, can only raise more obstacles to resuming operations of idled nuclear power plants.
　原子力安全行政の立て直しを担う規制委の発足がずれ込めば、原子力発電所の再稼働にも支障が出る。

Under the circumstances, Noda has expressed his intention to appoint the commission's chairman and other members without Diet approval, based on a provision of the law for the establishment of the commission.
野田首相は規制委設置法に基づき、国会同意なしに委員長と委員を任命する考えを表明した。

Such action is inevitable.
やむを得ない措置である。

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Opposition also culpable

Dealing with the problem of the disparity in the weight of votes in lower house elections, which the Supreme Court has ruled as being in a "state of unconstitutionality," has also been put off.
　違憲状態とされている衆院選の「１票の格差」是正も先送りされた。

The DPJ's attempt to focus on a bill that it prepared unilaterally without any effort to obtain support from the opposition has only aggravated the problem.
民主党が、野党の合意を得ず一方的に独自法案の審議を進めたことが事態をこじらせた。

But the opposition, too, should be held heavily responsible for throwing the Diet into confusion.
　一方、国会の混乱は野党にも大きな責任がある。

The opposition bloc passed censure motions against the prime minister and two other Cabinet members, subsequently boycotting Diet deliberations and stalling Diet business for a long period.
　参院で首相と２閣僚の問責決議を可決し、審議拒否によって国会を長期間空転させた。

What the current opposition has done is much the same as what the DPJ did when it was in opposition. How long will opposition parties continue to engage in such futile showdowns with the government?
　野党時代の民主党と同様の手法だ。こんな不毛な対立をいつまで繰り返すのか。

The opposition must refrain from using censure motions, which have no binding power, as means of political maneuvering.
法的拘束力のない問責決議を政争に使うことは慎まねばならない。

The bill for issuing deficit-covering government bonds has been scrapped because of resistance from opposition parties.
　赤字国債を発行するための特例公債法案は、野党の反対で廃案となった。

As a result, the government has been unable to secure revenue sources for budgetary appropriations and has had to refrain from implementing parts of the budget, including allocation of tax grants to local governments. This is a situation that can adversely affect people's lives.
予算の裏付けとなる財源を担保できず、政府は地方交付税交付金の配分など予算執行の一部抑制に踏み切る。国民生活に悪影響を及ぼしかねない事態だ。

Both the ruling and opposition camps make a point of engaging in politicking for the sake of their own selfish interests. This must stop.
　与野党が党利党略で駆け引きにうつつを抜かす。そんな政治に終止符を打ってもらいたい。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Sept. 8, 2012)
（2012年9月8日01時45分 読売新聞）