参院選自公圧勝 数に傲らず着実に政策実現を

The Yomiuri Shimbun July 23, 2013
Coalition must not be arrogant but should firmly pursue policy goals
参院選自公圧勝　数に傲らず着実に政策実現を（7月22日付・読売社説）

　◆日本経済再生への期待に応えよ

The ruling coalition parties have scored a resounding electoral victory following their landslide in the December 2012 House of Representatives election.
　昨年の衆院選に続く圧勝である。

In Sunday’s House of Councillors election, the Liberal Democratic Party and its junior coalition partner, New Komeito, garnered a majority in the 242-seat upper chamber, including seats that were uncontested this time.
　参院選で自民、公明両党が、非改選と合わせて過半数の議席を制した。

It is of great significance that the divided Diet, in which the upper house was controlled by opposition parties, has been brought to an end.
国会の衆参ねじれが解消された意義は大きい。

There is no national election scheduled for up to three years.
　次の国政選まで最大３年ある。

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s administration has now acquired an environment that will allow it to buckle down to various policy tasks. Among them are making the nation’s economic recovery compatible with fiscal reconstruction, strengthening the country’s security arrangements and considering the wisdom of revising the Constitution.
安倍政権は、経済再生と財政再建の両立、安全保障体制強化、憲法改正など様々な懸案に腰を据えて取り組める環境を獲得した。

However, neither the LDP nor Komeito should be complacent or arrogant about their newly won political power but instead should engage in managing the Diet considerately and respectfully.
　自公両党は、「巨大与党」の数に傲(おご)ることなく、丁寧な国会運営を心がけてもらいたい。

Voters favor stability
　◆国民は安定を望んだ

The divided state of the legislature developed six years ago as a result of the first Abe Cabinet’s suffering a crushing defeat in the 2007 upper house contest. Abe’s triumph this time has avenged that defeat.
　衆参ねじれは６年前、第１次安倍政権が参院選で敗北して生じさせたものであり、首相は今回、雪辱を果たしたことになる。

When the outcome of the latest upper house race began emerging late Sunday night, Abe said on a TV program his administration was given a “great voice of encouragement from the public, which wants a political process capable of making decisions, achieving a stable government and moving ahead with our economic policies.”
　安倍首相は、大勢判明後、「決める政治、安定的な政治で、経済政策を前に進めていけという大きな声をいただいた」と語った。

The stagnation and political turmoil caused by the divided Diet were major factors behind the anomaly of a new prime minister every year. Many voters this time favored political stability as pointed out by the prime minister.
　ねじれは、政治の停滞と混乱を引き起こし、首相が毎年交代する異常事態の要因だった。首相の言うように、多くの有権者が政治の安定を望んだと言えよう。

The prime minister’s package of economic policies, dubbed Abenomics, was the focus of contention in the upper house election and can be said to have won the public’s confidence, at least for now.
　最大の争点となった安倍政権の経済政策「アベノミクス」はひとまず国民のお墨付きを得た。

However, Abenomics has not yet produced any conspicuous improvements in the income of ordinary citizens or employment. It remains unclear whether the national economy can really break away from deflation.
だが、まだ所得や雇用にまで顕著な効果は及んでいない。デフレ脱却も不透明だ。

To meet the public’s expectations for economic revival, the prime minister must do his utmost to produce tangible results by mobilizing all available resources of the government and the ruling coalition parties.
　国民の経済再生への期待に応えるためにも、首相は、政府・与党の総力を結集して成果を上げていかねばなるまい。

The resounding win of the LDP, the only party in the latest upper house election that did not call for “reducing nuclear power generation to zero,” can be considered proof that voters favorably evaluated the party’s down-to-earth approach to energy problems.
　エネルギー政策を巡り、唯一「原発ゼロ」を掲げなかった自民党の圧勝は、現実的な姿勢を有権者が評価したからではないか。

Moves for realignment
　◆野党再編への機運も

The LDP was strong enough in the upper house race to score 29 wins versus two losses in single-seat prefectural constituencies, while also garnering seats in all multiple-seat constituencies. Komeito also performed well in securing upper house seats.
　自民党は、１人区で２９勝２敗、複数区では全候補が当選するという強さを見せつけた。公明党も、手堅く議席を確保した。

The LDP’s victory in prefectural constituency contests owed partly to the poor performance of opposition parties, just as in last year’s lower house election, and to the circumstances under which they found themselves scrambling among themselves for upper house seats.
　自民党の選挙区選での勝因は、衆院選と同様、野党が振るわなかったうえ、野党同士が議席を奪い合う構図になったことにある。

Voter turnout, meanwhile, fell well below the level in the previous upper house election. It seems some voters averse to the LDP might have chosen to abstain from voting.
　投票率は、前回を大幅に下回った。反自民票の一部が棄権に回ったという側面もあるだろう。

The DPJ suffered a crushing defeat, the worst since its inauguration, in the upper house election. In many cases, the party was defeated by other opposition parties even in multiple-seat prefectural electoral districts.
　民主党は、結党以来の大惨敗を喫した。複数区でも、他の野党に競り負けるケースが目立った。

There can be no denying that the desire to “punish” the DPJ for a pile of policy blunders while in power remains deeply ingrained among the public.
失政を重ねた民主党政権への「懲罰」感情は根強く残っている。

The election result shows the DPJ, as in the past, lacked solidarity as a party. One such example is that former Prime Minister Naoto Kan openly backed a candidate in the Tokyo constituency who had to run as an independent after the party dropped her from its ticket.
　相変わらず、党としての一体感が乏しいことも印象づけた。菅元首相が東京選挙区で民主党公認を取り消された無所属候補を公然と応援したのは、その一例だ。

Taking into consideration the DPJ’s dogmatic “out-and-out opposition” in the Diet and its ambiguous stance on such key issues as the Constitution, the DPJ failed to attract the votes of those critical of the Abe administration.
　国会での抵抗野党ぶりや憲法など重要政策のあいまいさを見れば民主党は、安倍政権への批判票の受け皿として物足りなかった。

DPJ leader Banri Kaieda expressed his intention to stay on as head of the party. The party leadership has no option but to clarify responsibility and start afresh after reflecting on its crushing defeat in the latest election. If it fails to do so, it may cease to be one of the two major parties in the next lower house election.
　海江田代表は、続投する意向を表明した。執行部は、惨敗を徹底的に総括したうえで責任を明確にし、出直すしかない。そうしなければ、次期衆院選では２大政党の一角から転落しかねない。

Those who bolted from the DPJ also failed miserably in the latest election. People’s Life Party failed to win a seat even in the Iwate constituency, the home base of its leader, Ichiro Ozawa, symbolizing his declining political clout. Green Wind lost its seat in the upper house.
　民主党からの離党組も全く振るわなかった。生活の党は、小沢代表の地元・岩手選挙区でも議席を得られなかった。小沢氏の政治力の衰えを象徴している。みどりの風も、参院で議席を失った。

While Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Restoration Party) and Your Party saw gains in their upper house seats, the parties cannot be considered to have solidified their foothold as the “third major force” in the upper house.
　日本維新の会とみんなの党は、議席を伸ばしたものの、いずれも参院で「第３極」としての地歩を確かにしたとは言い難い。

During the election campaign, Ishin no Kai coleader Toru Hashimoto criticized the DPJ for being supported by labor unions of public servants and asserted the need of forming a “new opposition party” that has no affiliation with business organizations and “can rival the LDP.”
　選挙中、維新の会の橋下共同代表は、公務員の労働組合の支援を受ける民主党を批判したうえで、業界団体とは無関係の「自民党に対抗する新しい野党」を結成する必要性を主張した。

The opposition camp is certain to reorganize in a bid to explore a way to create a force that can fight the ruling coalition.
　野党間では、自公両党に対抗する勢力の形成を模索する野党再編の動きが出て来るだろう。

The JCP, which advocated “confrontation with the LDP,” made major gains in the election, as it did in the recent Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election. The low voter turnout must have served as a spur to the highly organized party.
　「自共対決」を唱えた共産党は東京都議選に続き、議席を大きく伸ばした。低投票率が組織政党への追い風になったに違いない。

Focus on growth strategy

For the time being, the Abe administration will deal with the tasks of implementing its growth strategy plans, deciding whether to raise the consumption tax rate as planned and reviewing the government’s interpretation of the Constitution with regard to the right to collective self-defense. It also intends to proceed with the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations and the establishment of the Japanese version of the U.S. National Security Council.
　安倍政権は当面、成長戦略の具体化をはじめ、消費税率引き上げの判断、集団的自衛権を巡る政府の憲法解釈の見直しに取り組む。環太平洋経済連携協定（ＴＰＰ）交渉、国家安全保障会議（日本版ＮＳＣ）設置も進める意向だ。

　◆政策に優先順位が必要

All of these are important issues that affect the nation’s future.
　いずれも日本の将来を左右する重要課題だ。

We hope the administration will realize them by strategically setting priorities.
優先順位をつけ、戦略的に実現してほしい。

Abe said, “Now that the divided Diet has come to an end, we can no longer lay the onus on the opposition parties” if the ruling camp fails to handle these tasks adequately. How well the government and the ruling parties can deal with these issues will be tested in the days ahead.
首相は、「ねじれが解消した以上、野党のせいにできない」と語った。政府・与党の対応が問われよう。

Another focus will be on Komeito’s future actions. During the campaign, the party said it would act as a brake on some of the LDP’s policies.
　注目すべきは、連立を組む公明党の動向である。公明党は、自民党のブレーキ役になると訴えた。

Komeito leader Natsuo Yamaguchi has even said the party would “adamantly oppose” a review of the government’s interpretation of the Constitution to allow Japan to exercise the right to collective self-defense, as Abe advocates.
山口代表は、集団的自衛権の解釈見直しに関しては、「断固反対する」とさえ言明している。

Abe needs to consult with Yamaguchi afresh over the tasks facing the ruling coalition. It is vital for both to cooperate by communicating with each other well so they can properly manage the powerful ruling parties.
　首相は、山口氏と連立政権の課題を改めて協議する必要がある。巨大与党をきちんと運営するためにも、十分な意思疎通を図って連携することが欠かせない。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, July 22, 2013)
（2013年7月22日03時38分  読売新聞）