社説：安保転換を問う 参院委採決へ 国民の納得には程遠い

September 17, 2015 (Mainichi Japan)
Editorial: Public understanding of security bills far from sufficient
社説：安保転換を問う　参院委採決へ　国民の納得には程遠い

Deliberations in the House of Councillors over a set of government backed security-related bills remain tense. The ruling coalition parties are prepared to complete a questioning session in the Special Committee on Legislation for the Peace and Security of Japan and the International Community, where the bills are being discussed, and put the bills to a vote.
　安全保障関連法案の参院審議をめぐる状況が緊迫している。与党は平和安全法制特別委員会での質疑を終結させ、採決に踏み切る構えだ。

Ahead of a planned vote, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its coalition partner Komeito reached an agreement with three opposition parties -- the Assembly to Energize Japan, the Party for Future Generations and the New Renaissance Party -- on the details of a supplementary resolution. A meeting of leaders of the five parties was also held with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in attendance.
　採決を前に自民、公明両党は日本を元気にする会、次世代の党、新党改革の３野党と付帯決議の内容などで合意した。安倍晋三首相をまじえた５党の党首会談も行われた。

The ruling parties are saying that the environment for voting on the legislation has been prepared. But the nature of the bills remains unchanged, and we are far from able to say that the public is convinced.
　与党は合意を受けて法案採決の環境が整ったとアピールしているが、法案の本質は変わらない。国民が納得したとはとても言えない状態だ。

After the special committee held a regional public hearing in Yokohama on Sept. 16, ruling and opposition parties wrangled into the night over whether a final questioning session would be held. If the ruling coalition forces a vote on the legislation, the opposition parties are prepared to resist with countermeasures, including submitting a no-confidence resolution against the Abe Cabinet.
　１６日の特別委員会は横浜市での地方公聴会を終えた後、最後の質疑を行うかどうかで夜まで与野党が駆け引きを続けた。与党が採決を強行すれば、野党側は内閣不信任決議案などを提出して抵抗する構えだ。

Under the agreement reached between the five political parties, when the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) are dispatched overseas, a supplementary resolution and Cabinet decision would be incorporated to bolster Diet involvement in the process.
　５党合意は自衛隊の海外派遣にあたり、国会の関与を強めるため付帯決議や閣議決定などを加えるものだ。

When dispatching SDF members to the Persian Gulf, for example, and exercising the right to collective self-defense in situations not linked directly to an armed attack on Japan, advance approval would be sought from the Diet without exception, and the activities of dispatched SDF members would be reported to the Diet every 180 days.
ペルシャ湾への派遣など、日本への武力攻撃に直接結びつかない集団的自衛権の行使にあたっては「例外なく国会の事前承認を求める」とし、派遣した自衛隊の活動を１８０日ごとに国会に報告する。

The three opposition parties that reached the agreement with the ruling coalition are small parties with just 14 upper house seats. But the fact that they informally decided to support the security bills under this agreement, means the ruling parties can avoid passing the bills by their own weight alone -- a welcome development for the coalition.
３野党は参院会派で１４議席を有する小党だが、この合意を受けて法案への賛成方針を固めたため、与党は単独での可決が回避できたと歓迎している。

The question over how the Diet can control the SDF is an important point of discussion. But supplementary resolutions, with no written amendments to the law, are not binding. And the "appropriate response" forming the backdrop to Cabinet decisions is vague. In cases not involving a direct armed attack on Japan, it is only natural for the Diet to give advance approval. It is difficult to say that checks will be thoroughly implemented through the agreement between the ruling coalition and three opposition parties.
　自衛隊を国会がどう統制するかは重要な論点のひとつだ。だが、法案修正によらない付帯決議には拘束力がなく、政府の閣議決定による裏付けも「適切な対処」とあいまいだ。日本への武力攻撃に直接結びつかないようなケースで国会が事前承認するのは当然で、合意によってチェックが徹底されるとは言い難い。

Furthermore, the agreement does nothing to fundamentally amend the legislation, which has been criticized by many constitutional scholars as being unconstitutional. Surely what's really happening is that the ruling coalition is putting up a camouflage to avoid being criticized for voting on the bills on its own steam. The stance of the three opposition parties in settling on a loose agreement is questionable.
　そもそも合意は、憲法学者の多くから「違憲法案」と指摘される法案の根幹を修正するものではない。与党による単独採決と言われないためのカムフラージュというのが実態ではないのか。不十分な合意に応じた３野党の姿勢は疑問である。

Aside from the agreement between the five parties, discussions between the ruling coalition and the Japan Innovation Party on amending the legislation fell apart. Just like with deliberations in the House of Representatives, which ended unsatisfactorily, we cannot conclude that the ruling parties are showing any great desire to search seriously for common ground. The ruling parties should really have seriously considered such options as leaving out the questionable parts of the bills.
　５党合意をよそに、与党と維新の党による修正協議は決裂した。不調に終わった衆院段階での協議と同様に、本気で接点を探る意欲が与党にあったとは思えない。本来であれば、法案の一部を分離することも含め、さまざまな選択肢を真剣に検討すべきだったはずだ。

Day after day, people opposed to the security bills have staged rallies around the National Diet Building, and protests have spread across Japan.
　法案に反対する人たちが国会周辺で連日デモを行うなど、全国で抗議活動が広がっている。

The reason that the ruling parties are fixated upon passing the legislation into law on Sept. 18 is surely because they are worried about protests expanding over the weekend or during the subsequent "Silver Week" national holidays. If they really fear public opinion then forcing a vote on the bills is something they should avoid.
　与党が１８日中の成立にこだわるのは、週末や連休に入ると反対デモが一層拡大することを警戒しているためなのだという。世論を本当におそれるのであれば、採決の強行こそ見送るべきであろう。

毎日新聞　2015年09月17日　東京朝刊