東京都知事選 無責任な「原発ゼロ」信任されず

The Yomiuri Shimbun February 10, 2014
Voters in Tokyo gubernatorial election spurn irresponsible antinuclear drive
東京都知事選　無責任な「原発ゼロ」信任されず（2月10日付・読売社説）

　◆舛添氏は謙虚に政策を推進せよ

The outcome of Sunday’s Tokyo gubernatorial election can be said to attest to the strongly negative reaction by the majority of Tokyo residents to unrealistic arguments for an immediate end to nuclear power generation.
　非現実的な「原発即時ゼロ」の主張に、多くの都民が拒否反応を示したと言えるだろう。

Former Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Yoichi Masuzoe won an overwhelming victory in the race for the top post of the nation’s capital.
　東京都知事選で、元厚生労働相の舛添要一氏が圧勝した。

Masuzoe pledged in the campaign to make Tokyo the world’s No. 1 metropolis, stressing his resolve to do his utmost regarding Tokyo’s social welfare services, antidisaster measures and the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games and Paralympics.
「東京を世界一の街にする」と述べ、福祉や防災、五輪に全力を尽くすと強調した。

Former Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa and former head of the Japan Federation of Bar Associations Kenji Utsunomiya were the two other major candidates in the Tokyo contest, and campaigned against reactivation of nuclear plants by calling for nuclear power generation to be immediately reduced to zero. Utsunomiya finished a distant second to Masuzoe and Hosokawa a distant third.
　原発の再稼働を認めず、即時ゼロを掲げた元首相の細川護熙氏や、前日本弁護士連合会長の宇都宮健児氏は及ばなかった。

Their electoral tactics focused on nuclear and energy issues, which should be dealt with primarily in the arena of national politics. Wasn’t this off the mark in the gubernatorial race, which is a local election?
　国政に関わる原発・エネルギー問題を首長選で争うのは、無理があったのではないか。

‘Single-issue’ campaign
　◆「単一争点」は奏功せず

Hosokawa’s decision to run immediately before the official announcement of the election dramatically changed the nature of the election drives for a new Tokyo governor. In tandem with fellow former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, whose popularity is still markedly high, Hosokawa focused his campaign efforts on the choice between whether to eliminate nuclear power plants or not.
　都知事選の性格を一変させたのは、告示直前になって細川氏が出馬表明し、人気の高い小泉元首相と二人三脚で、原発ゼロか否かと訴えたことである。

There is precedent of an election campaign focused on a single issue: While in office, former Prime Minister Koizumi led the Liberal Democratic Party to a sweeping triumph in a House of Representatives election by focusing on the pros and cons of postal privatization. However, similar tactics failed to work this time.
　単一の争点を掲げる選挙では、小泉氏が首相時代、衆院選で郵政民営化を訴え、自民党を大勝させた例がある。だが、今回、そうした戦術は奏功しなかった。

According to voting day exit polls by The Yomiuri Shimbun, voters gave considerably less weight to issues related to nuclear plants and energy policy than they did to medical services and social welfare, and business growth and employment.
　読売新聞の出口調査では、有権者の重視した政策として「原発などエネルギー問題」は「医療や福祉」や「景気や雇用」を下回った。

Hosokawa asserted, “There will be little difference in policies regarding anything but the nuclear power problem no matter who is elected to the governorship,” but failed to refer to any specific measures to secure renewable energy sources that would serve as the pillar to replace nuclear power generation. There is no choice but to call that way of campaigning extremely irresponsible.
　細川氏は「原発以外の政策は、誰が知事でもそんなに変わらない」として原発を主要争点に位置づけながら、代替電源の柱とする再生可能エネルギーの確保策について具体的に語らなかった。無責任に過ぎる。

Fuel costs for the thermal power generation currently taking the place of idled nuclear plants have kept ballooning, causing electricity charges to rise repeatedly. Anxiety is also on the rise over the environmental impact of the increasing carbon dioxide emissions resulting from thermal power generation.
　原発を代替している火力発電の燃料費がかさみ、電気料金の上昇が続く。二酸化炭素の排出増による環境への影響も心配だ。

Arguing in abstract terms in favor of reducing nuclear power to zero, without taking these problems into account, can never be convincing.
こうした点を考慮せず、観念的に原発ゼロを唱えても説得力はない。

Masuzoe, in contrast, expressed his belief that energy policy should be handled primarily by the central government, pledging that he would make efforts to enhance the percentage of renewable energy in Tokyo’s total power consumption. In addition, his campaign placed high importance on issues close to Tokyo residents’ daily lives, such as improving the metropolitan government’s support for child rearing.
　これに対し、舛添氏は、エネルギーは国の政策との認識を示しつつ、都の再生可能エネルギーの割合を高めると主張した。同時に、子育て支援など身近な課題に力点を置いた選挙戦を展開した。

Many Tokyo residents may have high hopes regarding Masuzoe’s stance, which was well geared to the realities of their day-to-day lives.
　現実的な姿勢に、都民は期待を寄せたのではないか。

War between Koizumi, Abe
　◆小泉ＶＳ安倍の代理戦争

Earlier on there were some within the LDP who were wary of throwing the party’s support behind Masuzoe, who was expelled from the party for criticizing it. In response to the moves by Hosokawa and Koizumi, however, the LDP eventually embarked on full-scale support of Masuzoe.
　自民党には当初、党を批判して除名された舛添氏を支援することへの慎重論もあった。だが、細川、小泉両氏の動向を受け、全面支援に乗り出した。

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, LDP Secretary General Shigeru Ishiba and other party leaders made campaign speeches for Masuzoe. They probably concluded that if Hosokawa gained more votes than expected, it could adversely affect the envisaged restart of nuclear power plants or even the growth strategy championed by the Abe administration.
　安倍首相や石破幹事長らも応援演説に立った。細川氏の得票が伸びれば、原発の再稼働、ひいては成長戦略に影響しかねないとの判断も働いたのだろう。

Koizumi, who can be referred to in a sense as the protagonist on the stage of Tokyo election, has been a political mentor to Abe, and has urged the prime minister since last year to make a political decision to halt nuclear power generation immediately.
　影の主役ともいえる小泉氏は、安倍首相の「政治の師」であり、昨年来、首相に原発ゼロへの政治決断を促してきた。

But Abe did not comply with Koizumi’s call, causing a rift between the two. It cannot be denied that the Tokyo gubernatorial election also became a proxy war between Abe and Koizumi.
だが、首相は受け入れず、両氏の間に溝ができていた。都知事選が、両氏の代理戦争となったことも否めない。

At the Diet, Abe said there was no way for his administration to say, “We will end nuclear power generation now,” citing the possible adverse effects on people’s lives and economic activity.
　安倍首相は、国会で「『原発はもうやめる』というわけにはいかない」と述べ、国民生活や経済活動への悪影響を指摘した。

His administration should consider nuclear power as an important source of electricity in the government’s basic energy plan, which is to be decided on shortly, and squarely tackle the issue of restarting nuclear power plants.
近く決定するエネルギー基本計画で原発を重要電源と位置づけ、再稼働に正面から取り組むべきである。

The stance of the Democratic Party of Japan is questionable. The party initially indicated it would support Masuzoe but later shifted its stance to back Hosokawa.
　疑問なのは民主党の姿勢だ。舛添氏を推す構えを見せていたが、細川氏に乗り換えた。

The DPJ has advocated halting nuclear power generation sometime in the 2030s, so its stance is actually different from Hosokawa’s desire to halt nuclear power generation immediately. This is nothing less than an ad-hoc response.
民主党は、２０３０年代の原発稼働ゼロを主張しており、細川氏の「即時ゼロ」とは、本来は相いれない。場当たり的な対応と言うほかない。

With the crushing defeat of Hosokawa in the election, the scheme of reorganizing opposition parties, which some within the DPJ have been advocating and centers on the idea of breaking away from nuclear power generation, will stall.
　細川氏の大敗で、民主党の一部にあった脱原発を軸とする野党再編構想も失速しよう。

There is a mountain of issues that the metropolitan government has to tackle, including how to deal with the aging society and low birthrate, which Masuzoe mentioned in his campaign speeches.
　都政の課題は山積している。舛添氏が演説で時間を割いた少子高齢化対策はその一つだ。

One in every four people in Tokyo will be elderly six years from now. Due to difficulty in securing plots of land, the shortage of facilities for the aged, including homes for elderly people requiring special care, will become ever more serious.
　６年後には東京の人口の４人に１人を高齢者が占めるようになる。用地確保の難しさから、特別養護老人ホームなど高齢者施設の不足は一層深刻化するだろう。

During the campaign, Masuzoe promised to utilize plots of idle land owned by the metropolitan government. He must present concrete steps to that end. We also hope he will fulfill his pledge to reduce the number of children on waiting lists for certified day care centers to zero in four years.
　舛添氏は都の所有する遊休地の活用を約束した。具体策を示す必要がある。４年で待機児童を解消する公約も実現してほしい。

The new governor will also assume a heavy responsibility for making preparations for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games. Masuzoe has repeatedly promised that he would aim at realizing the “best Olympics in history.”
　２０年東京五輪・パラリンピックの準備にも都知事は重い責任を負う。舛添氏は「史上最高の五輪」を目指すと繰り返してきた。

The metropolitan government has a ¥400 billion fund set aside for preparations for the 2020 Games. Needless to say, the Tokyo government has to move ahead without delay with construction work on athletic arenas and other facilities, while at the same time avoiding waste and securing transparency in the spending of the money.
　都は、五輪準備のために４０００億円の基金を保有している。競技場建設などを遅滞なく進めることはもちろん、無駄を排し、使途の透明性を確保すべきである。

Build relations of trust
　◆都議会と信頼関係築け

It is also important to prepare for a major quake whose focus is directly below Tokyo, a quake that has a 70 percent possibility of occurring within 30 years. It is urgent to boost fire resistance in areas packed with wooden houses and to improve dilapidated infrastructure, measures that are lagging behind.
　３０年以内の発生確率が７０％と予測される首都直下地震への備えも重要だ。立ち遅れている木造住宅密集地域の不燃化や老朽化したインフラの再整備が急務である。

Former Gov. Naoki Inose often acted too arbitrarily on his own authority. We hope Masuzoe will manage the administration of the Tokyo government in a modest manner, without becoming puffed up from his overwhelming victory.
　猪瀬直樹前知事には独断専行が目立った。舛添氏は、得票結果に傲(おご)らず、謙虚な都政運営を心がけてもらいたい。

For Masuzoe to steadily achieve his campaign promises, it is important to build a solid relationship of trust with the Tokyo metropolitan assembly, in addition to displaying leadership to lead the colossal organization of the Tokyo metropolitan government.
　着実に公約を具体化していくには、都庁という巨大組織を率いるリーダーシップに加え、都議会との信頼関係をしっかり構築することが肝要である。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Feb. 10, 2014)
（2014年2月10日00時15分  読売新聞）