民・自の党首選 「決める政治」への道筋を語れ

The Yomiuri Shimbun (Sep. 8, 2012)
Party presidential candidates must show policy directions
民・自の党首選　「決める政治」への道筋を語れ（9月7日付・読売社説）

Preparations for the presidential elections of both the Democratic Party of Japan and the Liberal Democratic Party are gathering pace.
　民主党の代表選、自民党の総裁選に向けた動きが加速している。

The president of the DPJ will be prime minister, but the president of the LDP may also take up the post, depending on the outcome of the next House of Representatives election, which is to be held "sometime soon."
　民主党代表はすなわち首相ポストだが、自民党総裁も「近いうち」の次期衆院選の結果によっては、首相に就く可能性がある。

Each party race must be fought over candidates' views on the nation as a state, their basic policies and their qualifications as a leader. There will be heated debates in which candidates need to take into account not only the positions of their rivals within their own party but also the positions of candidates in the other party.
　国家観、基本政策、リーダーとしての資質が競われなければならない。党内だけでなく、相手の党も意識した論戦になるだろう。

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda will seek reelection in the DPJ presidential race, while Environment Minister Goshi Hosono, a member of the Noda Cabinet, has hinted at his intention to run, reversing his earlier stance that he would not. It now seems highly likely that the once almost certain prospect of Noda's reelection will be changed.
　民主党代表選は、再選を目指す野田首相に対し、閣僚である細野環境相が一転して出馬に意欲を示している。再選確実の構図が変わる公算が大きくなってきた。

The LDP presidential race, meanwhile, appears to be a crowded field with the following figures expected to run: current LDP President Sadakazu Tanigaki, former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, LDP Secretary General Nobuteru Ishihara, former LDP Policy Research Council Chairman Shigeru Ishiba, former Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura and LDP Policy Research Council Acting Chairman Yoshimasa Hayashi.
　自民党総裁選は、谷垣総裁、安倍元首相、石原幹事長、石破茂・前政調会長、町村信孝・元官房長官、林芳正政調会長代理の名が挙がり乱立気味だ。

Attention has been drawn to factions led by Makoto Koga and Machimura, as they may split over the question of whom to run from these factions.
古賀、町村両派の分裂含みの展開も目を引く。

===

3-party pacts key issue

One focal point in the two parties' elections is whether to maintain agreements reached by the DPJ, LDP and New Komeito over such issues as integrated reform of the social security and tax systems.
　両党首選の焦点の一つは、社会保障と税の一体改革などで実現した民主、自民、公明の３党による合意路線を今後も維持していくのかどうかである。

Neither the DPJ nor the LDP can change the divided Diet, where the lower house is controlled by the ruling camp and the House of Councillors is held by the opposition, until the next upper house election takes place.
　民主、自民両党とも、来年の参院選までは、衆参ねじれ国会を解消することはできない。

Whether to cooperate to pass pending bills will be a point of contention. There is a growing number of tasks to be addressed, such as legislation to allow the issuance of deficit-covering bonds and to reform the lower house election system to rectify the disparity in the value of one vote.
　今後の法案処理での連携が問われよう。赤字国債発行のための特例公債法案や、１票の格差を是正する衆院選挙制度改革に関する法案など課題は山積している。

In the DPJ, intraparty confrontation over differences in policy directions has eased since former party leader Ichiro Ozawa and others left the DPJ. If Noda is reelected, he will have no choice but to seek cooperation from the LDP and Komeito to form a consensus on policy.
　民主党は、小沢一郎元代表らの離党によって路線対立は緩和された。野田首相は再選されれば、自公両党の協力を得て、合意を形成していくしかないだろう。

Meanwhile, confrontation within the LDP has been increasingly prominent. Although Tanigaki and Ishihara promoted three-party cooperation with the DPJ and Komeito, Abe hopes to join hands with Osaka Ishin no Kai (Osaka restoration group) rather than the DPJ.
　自民党では、対立が浮き彫りになっている。これまで谷垣、石原両氏が進めてきた民自公３党の協調路線に対し、安倍氏は民主党ではなく、大阪維新の会との連携に意欲を見せる。

Which political forces to cooperate with is a key issue. Other possible candidates also should clarify their stance in this regard.
　どの勢力と連携するかは、重要なテーマである。他の立候補予定者も明確にしてもらいたい。

===

Deepen debates

Both parties must deepen their debates on policy issues to tackle the problems they are facing.
　無論、両党は直面する課題への政策論議を深めねばならない。

It is an urgent task to set the course for the nation's energy policy, which concerns such issues as restarting idled reactors at nuclear power plants. Whether to participate in the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade framework also will be a major issue.
　原子力発電所の再稼働をはじめ、エネルギー政策をどう方向付けるかは喫緊の課題である。環太平洋経済連携協定（ＴＰＰ）参加問題も大きな論点となる。

We want to hear candidates' views on issues related to Japan's sovereignty and territories, as exemplified in the cases of the Senkaku Islands, Takeshima islands and northern territories. We also will pay attention to their views on exercising the right to collective self-defense, which is indispensable to deepening the Japan-U.S. alliance.
　尖閣諸島、竹島、北方領土など日本の主権・領土を巡る問題や、日米同盟の深化に欠かせない「集団的自衛権の行使」に関する見解はぜひとも聞きたい。

Rival candidates to Noda and Tanigaki are emerging because their parties need to survive the next lower house election. It cannot be denied that the major focus in the two parties' elections is on who will become the party's face in the lower house election. But it is putting the cart before the horse if policy positions do not serve as the yardstick.
　野田、谷垣両氏に対抗馬が出るのは、衆院選での生き残りを懸けているからだ。両党首選の最大の眼目が「選挙の顔」にあることは否めないが、政策が尺度とならないようでは本末転倒である。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Sept. 7, 2012)
（2012年9月7日01時50分 読売新聞）