（社説）参院審議、大詰めへ 「違憲」法案に反対する

--The Asahi Shimbun, Sept. 10
EDITORIAL: 'Unconstitutional' security legislation must be killed
（社説）参院審議、大詰めへ　「違憲」法案に反対する

Upper House deliberations on contentious government-drafted national security legislation are entering the final stage.
　新たな安全保障関連法案の参院審議が大詰めを迎える。

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was re-elected Sept. 8 as president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, intends to seek a vote on the package of bills for passage next week.
自民党総裁選で再選された安倍首相は来週、法案の採決に持ち込み、成立させる構えだ。

But public opinion remains highly critical of the legislation that would drastically change the overseas role of the Self-Defense Forces.
　だが、法案に対する世論の目は相変わらず厳しい。

In an Asahi Shimbun poll in late August, 30 percent of the respondents expressed support for the legislation and 51 percent were opposed. Asked whether they thought the legislation needed to be enacted during the current Diet session, only 20 percent of those polled said yes, while 65 percent answered no.
　朝日新聞の８月下旬の世論調査では法案に賛成が３０％、反対は５１％。今国会で成立させる必要があると思う人は２０％、必要はないと思う人は６５％だった。

Many experts assert the legislation is unconstitutional. People across Japan have joined demonstrations to protest the bills. It is hard to claim a national consensus has been formed on the need for the legislation.
　多くの専門家が法案を「憲法違反」と指摘し、抗議デモが各地に広がる。国民の合意が形成されたとはとても言えない。

If the LDP-led ruling coalition rams the bills through the Upper House by using its majority in the chamber, the schism between the people and politics will only deepen.
それなのに政府・与党が数の力で押し切れば、国民と政治の分断はいっそう深まるばかりだ。

OPPOSITION ACROSS A BROAD SPECTRUM
　■多様に広がる反対論

We again urge the Abe administration to stop forging ahead with this initiative.
　改めて安倍政権に求める。

Forcing “unconstitutional” legislation through the Diet is unacceptable. The bills should be quashed, and the government should start from scratch.
　「違憲」法案の成立を強行することは許されない。法案は廃案にし、出直すべきだ。

Given China’s rise as a major and assertive military power and other factors, the Abe administration argues that it is necessary to allow Japan to exercise the right to collective self-defense in limited situations because the security environment surrounding the nation has changed. Many Japanese agree with this view.
　安倍政権は中国の台頭などを念頭に、日本を取り巻く安全保障環境が変化したのだから「集団的自衛権の限定的な行使容認が必要だ」と主張する。これに賛同する国民も多い。

What is impressive about public opinion with regard to the legislation, on the other hand, is the wide spectrum of arguments against it. Opposition to the legislation has been voiced by people of all ideological stripes, including both those who are for and against constitutional amendments.
　一方で印象深いのは、護憲論から改憲論にまで広がる、反対論の多様性である。

Some people have said Japan must not abandon the pacifist credo which it adopted after serious soul-searching about its actions during World War II and has been maintaining throughout the postwar period.
　「先の大戦を反省し、戦後日本が守ってきた平和主義を捨ててはならない」という指摘。

Members of nongovernment organizations have warned that expanding the scope of SDF activities in regions like the Middle East could stir up antagonism against Japan.
　「中東などで自衛隊の活動を拡大すれば、かえって敵対感情を招きかねない」と懸念するＮＧＯ（非政府組織）関係者。

There are others who think the Constitution should be amended and criticize the way the government has made it possible for Japan to exercise the right to collective self-defense simply through a change in the traditional interpretation of the Constitution. This approach, they say, runs against the principle of constitutionalism, which in essence means that the government’s power is defined and limited by the Constitution.
　「憲法を改正すべきだ。解釈改憲で集団的自衛権を認めるのは、憲法が権力を縛る立憲主義に反する」との意見もある。

The administration has turned a deaf ear to all these dissenting voices.
　これらの反対論に、政権は耳を傾けようとはしない。

When former Supreme Court Chief Justice Shigeru Yamaguchi said that the legislation is unconstitutional, Defense Minister Gen Nakatani downplayed the importance of Yamaguchi’s opinion by stating the remarks were uttered by “one private individual who has retired from office.” Nakatani’s comment symbolized the administration’s complete lack of respect for expert opinion.
　法案を「違憲」と断じた最高裁の山口繁・元長官の指摘に対し、中谷防衛相が「現役を引退された一私人の発言」と語ったのは象徴的だ。「専門知」への敬意が決定的に欠けている。

LEGAL STABILITY UNDERMINED
　■欠落する法的安定性

The Abe administration contends there is a policy imperative to make it possible for Japan to use the right to collective self-defense. If so, the logical step the administration should follow is to make its case for this policy change to the public and seek support for the necessary amendment to the Constitution.
　政策上、集団的自衛権の行使を認める必要がある。それが政権の主張だ。だとすれば国民に正面からその必要性を説き、憲法改正を問うのが筋である。

In fact, for a while Abe called for a revision of Article 96 of the Constitution to lower the bar for constitutional amendments, pledging to “get the Constitution back into the hands of the people.” His true aim in making that move was apparently an amendment to the war-renouncing Article 9.
　事実、首相が「憲法を国民の手に取り戻す」と訴え、憲法改正の発議要件を下げる９６条改正を訴えた時期があった。視線の先には９条改憲があった。

After his bid to revise Article 96 was criticized as a violation of the principle of constitutionalism, Abe switched to achieving his security policy goal through a change in the government’s interpretation of the Constitution.
　これが立憲主義に反すると批判を浴びるや、首相は解釈改憲にかじを切る。

The radical reinterpretation of the Constitution was formalized with a Cabinet decision involving only a small number of ministers. The administration is now trying to ram the legislation based on that policy shift through the Diet by taking advantage of the overwhelming parliamentary majority commanded by the ruling alliance for an effective amendment to the Constitution.
　少人数の閣僚だけで閣議決定し、圧倒的な与党の数で法案を通し、実質的な改憲をはかる。

The administration has omitted the process of building consensus among the public and made do with an agreement reached within the government and the ruling camp without participation by the public.
国民の合意形成という手順を省き、政府・与党の閉ざされた合意だけで事を済ます。

Now, the Constitution is being taken away from the hands of the people.
　いま、憲法は国民の手から奪われようとしている。

As a result, legal stability is being undermined in more ways than one.
　その結果、二重三重の意味で法的安定性が揺らいでいる。

No matter what answers the government gives to related questions at the Diet, many Japanese cannot help but suspect that the government could change its position in the future. That’s why people are finding it hard not to be concerned that conscription may someday be adopted, no matter how strongly Abe rules out the possibility.
　政府が国会でどんな答弁をしても、覆される疑念がぬぐえない。首相がいくら否定しようと、いつか徴兵制が導入されるのではという国民の不安が消えないのは、そのためだ。

After the package of security bills is passed into law, there will likely be a wave of lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of the legislation.
　法案成立後は違憲訴訟が相次ぐ公算が大きい。

It is also possible that the government’s interpretation of the Constitution may be altered again after a regime change.
政権交代があれば、憲法解釈が再び変わる可能性もある。

The Abe administration is poised to push the legislation through the Diet without even clarifying the vague concept of “the crisis of the nation’s survival,” which it says would justify Japan engaging in collective self-defense.
政権は、集団的自衛権の行使ができる「存立危機」の概念すらあいまいなまま押し通す構えだ。

The lack of an effective system to prevent arbitrary enforcement of the law inevitably gives the government even greater discretion in making security policy decisions.
恣意（しい）的な運用に対する歯止めが欠落し、政府の裁量を広げている。

The SDF must not be deployed to dangerous overseas operations under such unstable circumstances.
　こうした不安定な状況で、自衛隊を危険な海外任務に送り出すことがあってはならない。

IMPORTANCE OF ARTICLE 9
　■問われる９条の重み

Another thing the security legislation is threatening to undermine is the importance of Article 9.
　もう一つ、法案が揺さぶっているのは憲法９条の重みだ。

The Abe administration appears to be trying to expand the scope of the tasks and areas for the SDF's overseas operations, enhance the SDF’s cooperation with the forces of the United States and other countries and thereby enhance deterrence against China. It also seems to regard Article 9 as an impediment to Japan’s national security and want to reduce its implications for security policy so that Japan can play a greater military role in the international community.
　自衛隊の海外展開の任務と範囲を拡大し、米軍など他国軍との連携を強め、中国への抑止力を高める。憲法９条を安全保障上の阻害要因とみてその意味を小さくし、国際社会での軍事的な役割を拡大する――。

If the “proactive pacifism” the administration has been advocating means pushing the nation in this direction, it marks a radical departure from the postwar pacifism that has enabled Japan to maintain a distance from direct involvement in overseas conflicts, even if the two may look similar.
　安倍政権の掲げる「積極的平和主義」がそうした方向性だとすれば、海外の紛争への直接的な関与から一定の距離をとってきた戦後日本の平和主義とは、似て非なるものだ。

Let us think afresh about the meaning of Article 9, which states the Japanese people “forever renounce war.”
　もう一度、９条のもつ意味を考えてみたい。

It has helped Japan to maintain a distance from U.S. military actions, which on occasion are staged for a wrong war. It has also helped Japan to build relationships based on mutual trust with its neighbors, including China and South Korea, and avoid the folly of participating in a futile arms race. Japan, as a pacifist nation underpinned by Article 9, can play a useful role as mediator in the Middle East.
　時に誤った戦争にも踏み込む米国の軍事行動と一線を引く。中国や韓国など近隣諸国と基本的な信頼をつなぎ、不毛な軍拡競争に陥る愚を避ける。平和国家として、中東で仲介役を果たすことにも役に立つ。

Article 9 has played no small part in Japan’s pacifist diplomacy in the postwar period, although it has also created challenges under the harsh reality facing the world.
　現実との折り合いに苦しむことはあっても、９条が果たしてきた役割は小さくない。

To be sure, a certain degree of deterrence provided by the U.S. forces and the SDF is necessary for Japan’s security. It is vital to make efforts to bolster the reliability of deterrence.
　確かに、米軍と自衛隊による一定の抑止力は必要であり、その信頼性を高める努力は欠かせない。

That, however, doesn’t mean that enacting the “unconstitutional” security legislation in such a rash manner is the only way to accomplish that.
そうだとしても、唯一の「解」が、「違憲」法案を性急に成立させることではない。

As for expanding Japan’s international contributions, widening the scope of overseas SDF deployments is not the only option.
　国際貢献についても、自衛隊派遣の強化だけが選択肢ではない。

There are a plethora of international challenges Japan should tackle, such as aid to refugees, efforts to deal with infectious diseases and mediation to solve conflicts. There must be ways for Japan to expand and upgrade its diplomatic activities by combining efforts to tackle these challenges in line with its commitment to Article 9.
難民支援や感染症対策、紛争調停など多様な課題が山積みである。９条を生かしつつ、これらの組み合わせで外交力を高める道があるはずだ。

Using the power of numbers to turn the colorful landscape of Japanese people’s views and opinions into a monochrome picture would stifle people’s efforts to envision the future of the nation.
　数の力で、多様な民意を一色に塗りつぶせば、国民が将来の日本の針路を構想する芽まで奪うことになる。