社説：安保転換を問う 安全保障法成立

September 19, 2015 (Mainichi Japan)
Editorial: Diet distorts Constitution by passing security bills into law
社説：安保転換を問う　安全保障法成立

　◇憲法ゆがめた国会の罪

The Diet's enactment of the security-related legislation, opening the way for Japan to exercise the right to collective self-defense, has raised serious questions about the fate of Japan's democratic politics. Numerous members of the public, including those who staged demonstrations against the legislation in front of the Diet building and elsewhere, undoubtedly have questions over the legislation, feel angry and are worried about the laws.
　日本の民主政治は一体どうなってしまうのか。国会周辺を中心に全国各地で反対デモを続ける人々だけでなく、多くの国民が疑問や怒り、そして不安を感じているだろう。

The House of Councillors passed the bills, which will drastically change Japan's basic national policy that the country has nurtured since the end of World War II, into law at a plenary session without addressing numerous questions and inconsistencies.
　戦後築いてきた国のかたちを大きく変える安全保障関連法案が与党などの賛成多数により参院本会議で可決され、成立した。数々の疑問や矛盾点を置き去りにしたまま、

With the enactment of the legislation, Japan can exercise the right to collective self-defense, and the overseas activities of the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) will be drastically expanded.
これで集団的自衛権の行使が認められ、自衛隊の海外での活動が拡大する。

Ruling coalition legislators, who belong to the legislative branch of the government, would not listen to the opinions of constitutional scholars and other experts who raised suspicions that the legislation violates the Constitution, which is the country's supreme law.
　しかも、この法案は国の最高法規である憲法に違反している疑いが極めて濃いにもかかわらず、その指摘に立法府に属している与党議員が耳を傾けようともしなかった。今回の特異さはそこにある。

　◇言論封じる言論の府

Yoshitada Konoike, chairman of the upper house special committee on the legislation, was quoted as saying that "I thought that there were so many flawed answers" that officials of the executive branch gave to questions during deliberations on the bills. Konoike made the remark after the panel railroaded the bills on Sept. 17 amid confusion. The minute of the session only states, "Impossible to hear" what the chairman and other members said during voting because of the confusion.
　「どうしても不備な（政府）答弁が目立った気がする」
　議事録も「聴取不能」としか残せないような大混乱の中で１７日、参院特別委員会での強行採決に踏み切った鴻池祥肇委員長（自民党）は採決後、こう語ったという。

One cannot help but wonder how many ruling coalition legislators can proudly say the Diet had thorough debate on the bills.
　これで議論を尽くしたと胸を張れる与党議員はどれだけいるだろうか。

The governing bloc not only unilaterally terminated deliberations at the committee but also submitted and passed a motion calling for limiting the time for debate on censure motions and other resolutions that opposition parties submitted in a bid to block the passage of the bills at a plenary session.
審議を一方的に打ち切っただけではない。与党はその後の参院本会議で野党が提出した問責決議案などに対する討論を時間制限する動議まで出して可決した。

In other words, the citadel of discourse suppressed debate. The ruling coalition acted as if to say opposition parties should stop useless resistance because ruling coalition legislators far outnumber those from opposition parties.
　「言論の府」自らが言論を封じ込める。それは「与党の数が上回っているのだから無駄な抵抗はやめろ」と言わんばかりの姿勢だった。

Opposition parties attempted to block the move to pass the bills into law by also submitting a no-confidence motion against the Cabinet of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to the House of Representatives. However, legislators from the ruling bloc obviously felt they were simply waiting as time passed.
野党は衆院でも内閣不信任決議案を提出するなど抵抗を試みたが、与党議員からすれば時間が経過するのをひたすら待つという心境だったろう。

Throughout Diet deliberations, the Abe government maintained its self-righteous attitude with which it dismissed any opposition and opinions calling for prudence in enacting the legislation.
　結局、安倍政権はこうした異論や慎重論を封じ込める独善的な姿勢に終始したといっていい。

Numerous members of the general public are dissatisfied with and worried about the Abe administration's high-handed manner in which it dealt with the bills and the Diet that failed to stop the government's move as well as the contents of the laws.
国民の多くは今回の法律の中身とともに、安倍政権の強引な手法と、それを食い止めることができなかった国会に強い不満や不安を感じているはずだ。

It was one of Prime Minister Abe's long-cherished goals to open the way for Japan to exercise the right to collective self-defense. The move leading up to the enactment of the security legislation began in summer 2014 when the Abe Cabinet reversed the government's longstanding interpretation of the war-renouncing Constitution as banning Japan from exercising this right.
　集団的自衛権の行使容認は安倍晋三首相の長年の悲願であり、今回は昨夏、集団的自衛権の行使は違憲だとしてきた歴代内閣の憲法解釈を、強引に覆したことに始まる。

However, constitutional scholars and other experts pointed out one after another that the security bills are unconstitutional and public opposition to the bills intensified. However, the prime minister and other top government officials responded by only citing the 1959 Supreme Court ruling on the so-called Sunagawa Incident, in which the top court said Japan inherently has the right to self-defense, and other views, but failed to provide any convincing counter-argument to critics.
　だが、憲法違反だと憲法学者ら多くの専門家が批判し、反対世論が一段と強まったのに対し、首相らは砂川事件の最高裁判決（１９５９年）などを持ち出すだけで、最後まで説得力のある反論ができなかった。

Article 98 of the Constitution stipulates that the Constitution is "the supreme law of the nation," and that no law contrary to the Constitution "shall have legal force or validity." The prime minister and other top government officials should know this. However, Yosuke Isozaki, an adviser to the prime minister who played a leading role in developing the legislation, stated that "legal stability is irrelevant."
　憲法９８条は憲法は国の最高法規であり、それに反する法律は効力を有しないと明記している。当然、それは承知しているはずだが、首相の側近で今回の法整備をリードしてきた礒崎陽輔首相補佐官は「法的安定性は関係ない」と語った。

This remark by Isozaki apparently reflects the true intentions of the Abe government. It is no exaggeration to say the administration went beyond the bounds of its authority as the executive branch and distorted the Constitution. Ruling coalition legislators went along with the move without raising questions. Komeito, the LDP's junior ruling coalition partner, also bears serious responsibility as it helped quickly enact the legislation while being aware that some of the party's supporters were opposing the bills.
　再三指摘してきたように、この発言こそが安倍政権の本音だったろう。政権は行政権の範囲を逸脱し、憲法をゆがめたといっていい。そして与党議員もそれに疑いをはさむことなく追認した。自民党のみならず、支持者の一部にも反対論が出ているのを知っていながら成立を急いだ公明党の責任も重い。

　◇安倍手法を自公後押し

Article 99 of the Constitution states that the Emperor or the Regent as well as Cabinet ministers, Diet members, judges and all other public servants "have the obligation to respect and uphold the Constitution." It is the basic principle of constitutionalism that the Constitution is not something that binds members of the public but something that restrains those in power and prevents them from abusing their power.
　さらに憲法９９条は、憲法を尊重し擁護する義務を負うのは、天皇または摂政、国務大臣、国会議員、裁判官、その他の公務員だと記している。憲法を守る義務があるのは首相や国会議員らだということだ。憲法は国民を縛るものではなく、権力側を制限し、その独走、暴走を防ぐためにあるというのが立憲主義の基本的な考え方である。

However, a draft of a new Constitution that the LDP worked out in 2012 states that the people should be aware that their freedom and rights are accompanied by duties and responsibilities and must not run counter to public good and public order.
　これに対して自民党が２０１２年に決定した憲法改正草案には「（国民は）自由及び権利には責任及び義務が伴うことを自覚し、常に公益及び公の秩序に反してはならない」などとある。

The LDP's tendency to place priority on the state over individuals' rights has been growing since Prime Minister Abe returned to power in late 2012. The enactment of the Act on the Protection of Specially Designated Secrets in 2013 and the security legislation is part of this tendency.
第２次安倍政権発足後、自民党には個人の権利よりも国家を優先する傾向が一段と強まっているのは間違いない。一昨年成立した特定秘密保護法も今回の法整備もそうした流れの中にある。

Diet deliberations on the security bills failed to clarify the criteria for cases in which Japan can deploy Self-Defense Forces (SDF) troops overseas under the legislation.
　今回の法律で自衛隊の海外派遣はどんな場合に認められるのか。審議を重ねても基準はあいまいなままだった。

In other words, such decisions are left largely to the discretion of the executive branch of the government.
要するに政府の判断に委ねられる範囲が極めて大きいということだ。

Needless to say, the procedure for gaining approval of overseas deployment of SDF personnel from the Diet is of great importance.
言うまでもなく今後は国会の承認手続きも重要となる。

However, serious questions remain as to whether the legislative branch can check whether dispatching SDF personnel overseas is appropriate in each mission, considering the way legislators deliberated the bills.
だが今のような国会できちんとチェックできるのか。疑問が深まるのは当然だ。

In 1960, the Diet ratified revisions to the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty while fierce demonstrations against the move were staged outside the Diet building, just like the latest enactment of the security legislation. After then Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi, Abe's grandfather, stepped down, his successor Hayato Ikeda pledged to double the people's income, shifting the government's emphasis from security to economic growth.
　６０年の日米安全保障条約改定も激しい反対デモが国会を取り巻く中で承認された。そして首相の祖父である当時の岸信介首相が退陣した後、政権に就いた池田勇人首相は「所得倍増計画」を打ち出し、安保から経済重視への転換を図ってみせた。

Prime Minister Abe is expected to emphasize that his government will again attach importance to economic policies.
　安倍首相も今後、再び経済政策重視をアピールしていくと思われる。

The prime minister and the ruling coalition made haste to enact the security legislation for fear that if deliberations on the bills continued until shortly before the summer 2016 upper house election, it would adversely affect the governing bloc's chance of winning the race.
来年夏には参院選がある。今回、首相や与党が成立を急いだのは、参院選の直近まで審議が続いて選挙戦に影響するのを避けたかったからでもある。

The coalition apparently wants members of the public to forget the security legislation as soon as possible.
国民には早く忘れてほしいというのが本音であろう。

All the more because of this, members of the public must not forget legislators who helped the government recklessly move to enact the legislation by force of numbers.
　だからこそ私たちは、数の力で政権の独走を後押しした議員たちを忘れてはならないのである。

毎日新聞　2015年09月19日　02時30分