社説:参院選挙改革 自民の身勝手さに驚く

September 13, 2014(Mainichi Japan)
Editorial: LDP's selfishness exposed in friction over electoral reform
社説:参院選挙改革　自民の身勝手さに驚く

It has been said that achieving consensus over reform of the electoral system for the House of Councillors is no easy task. But the utter confusion within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) leaves us dumbfounded.
　元々、合意は難しいと言われていたが、ここまで混乱するとはあきれるばかりだ。参院の選挙制度改革をめぐる自民党の話だ。
   
Masashi Waki, an LDP legislator who heads a consultative body on electoral reform for the upper house, laid out a new reform plan at a meeting of the panel on Sept. 11. The consultative body comprises both ruling and opposition party members, focusing on how to correct vote-value disparities among upper house constituencies.
　経過はこうである。参院選挙区の「１票の格差」是正策を与野党で検討している参院選挙制度協議会の１１日の会合で脇雅史座長（自民党）が新たな案を各党に提示した。

Waki's proposal, however, met a backlash from within the LDP. The following day, the party decided to dismiss him from the post of secretary-general of its upper house caucus. Waki is also expected to be ousted as head of the consultative body.
ところが足元の自民党の反発は収まらず、１２日には脇氏を参院自民党幹事長から外す更迭人事を決定。協議会の座長も交代する見通しで、

The ruling and opposition camps are now likely to face difficulties reaching an agreement over the issue by the end of the year -- the initial target deadline. The incident exposes the LDP's selfishness and reluctance to engage in electoral reform.
この結果、目標としていた年内の与野党合意は難しい状況となっている。自民党の身勝手さとやる気のなさが明らかになったといっていいだろう。

At the Sept. 11 meeting, Waki proposed a plan to merge 10 prefectural constituencies into five electoral districts -- modifying an original plan to integrate 22 prefectural constituencies into 11 electoral zones. However, LDP legislators -- especially those whose electoral districts were to be affected by the plan -- expressed dissatisfaction with the proposal.
　脇氏が１１日提示したのは参院選挙区の１０県を５区に合区する案で、２２府県を１１選挙区に統合するとの当初案を修正したものだ。しかし、肝心の自民党は議席減となる関係選挙区の議員を中心に合区案そのものに対する不満は変わらなかった。

When Waki first presented the proposal of merging upper house constituencies, Kensei Mizote, head of the LDP's upper house caucus, reportedly resisted, saying, "This is the first that I've heard of it." His response reveals a fundamental lack of intra-party coordination within the LDP.
　今春、脇氏が合区案を最初に示した際、同じ参院自民党幹部の溝手顕正参院議員会長は「初めて聞いた」と反発したという。当初から党内調整はずさんだったということだ。

So far, the party has produced no workable alternative. It cannot escape criticism that its legislators, with their vested interests, are inherently reluctant to implement electoral reform.
しかも現状では自民党に合区案に代わる有力案があるわけでもない。これではそもそも自分たちが不利益をこうむる選挙制度改革自体に後ろ向きだと見られても仕方があるまい。

Ahead of the recent Cabinet reshuffle, there was a move within the LDP's upper house caucus to have Waki appointed as a Cabinet minister, in order to unseat him from the head of the consultative body on electoral reform. The attempt to oust Waki failed after he refused the proposed appointment. The idea of linking a ministerial appointment to legislators' own electoral interests leaves us astonished.
　合区案に突き進む脇氏を外すためだったのだろう。先の内閣改造に際しては一時、参院自民党内に脇氏を入閣させ協議会座長から降ろす動きがあった。脇氏が入閣を拒否して見送られたが、議員自らの選挙事情と閣僚人事をからめる発想にも驚く。

The merger proposal may not be the best plan, but it is one possible method to rectify vote-value disparities among electoral districts. Some opposition party members have voiced support for the plan. Even within the LDP, a number have reportedly endorsed the plan, saying they may have no other choice. Waki, on the other hand, doesn't seem to have made sufficient efforts to ease conflict within the LDP, as all he did was to denounce Mizote and other opponents of the plan.
　合区案は私たちもベストとは考えていないが、格差是正の一つの方法ではある。野党の中には賛成する意見も出ており、実は自民党内にも「結局、合区案しかないのでは」との声があるという。一方の脇氏も溝手氏らを非難するだけで党内の取りまとめに努力したとは思えない。

The Supreme Court has ruled that the 2010 upper house election was held "in a state of unconstitutionality." A supplementary provision was subsequently added to the revised Public Offices Election Law, stating that a drastic review of the electoral system would be carried out ahead of the next upper house election to be called in 2016. However, the Diet has thus far only taken the stop-gap measure of reducing the number of seats in the most sparsely populated constituencies by four and increasing that in the most densely populated districts by four. There is little time left to conduct drastic electoral reform for the upper chamber.
　参院選挙区の１票の格差に関しては最高裁が４年前の参院選挙について「違憲状態」との判断を下している。これを受け再来年の次の参院選までに制度の抜本的な見直しを図ることが改正公職選挙法の付則に記された。だが、これまで選挙区定数を「４増４減」する応急措置にとどまっており、抜本改革は待ったなしだ。

In the meantime, a third-party advisory panel to the speaker of the House of Representatives has started discussing reform of the lower house electoral system. This has sparked criticism from Waki and other LDP members. They say it is irresponsible for lawmakers to leave their own electoral system in the hands of a third-party organization. The members stressed that upper house legislators were carrying out reforms "on their own."
　衆院の選挙制度改革では議長の諮問機関による協議がスタートした。脇氏ら参院側は「自らの選挙制度について第三者機関に委ねるのは国会議員として無責任だ」と衆院を批判し、「自前」の改革をアピールしていたはずだ。

Now, however, it seems that the upper chamber will also end up having to outsource the task to a third-party body, as the LDP is making no ground in coordinating the opinions of its members.
自民党が意見をまとめられないとすれば、参院も第三者に委ねるしかなくなるだろう。

毎日新聞　2014年09月13日　02時32分