民進党発足 １強と対峙するには

--The Asahi Shimbun, March 28
EDITORIAL: Minshinto’s task is to become viable foe of 'sole winner' Abe
（社説）民進党発足　１強と対峙するには

Minshinto (The Democratic Party), formed from the merger between the Democratic Party of Japan and the Japan Innovation Party, was officially inaugurated at a party convention on March 27.
The new party’s first task is to try to close the gap between the ardor of its members and the cool indifference of the public at large.
　新たな旗のもとに集った議員の熱気と、国民の冷めた空気。まずは、この差を埋める努力から始めるしかない。

　民主党と維新の党などの議員が合流し、新しい民進党としてきのう党大会を開いた。

Shiori Yamao, a 41-year-old Lower House member who made news headlines for confronting the Abe administration over the problem of children on waiting lists for child-care facilities, has been chosen to head the new party’s policy research committee. But since almost all party executives, including leader Katsuya Okada, have essentially retained their posts from their DPJ days, critics point out that the party name is the only thing that has changed.
　待機児童問題で安倍政権を追及する若手の山尾志桜里氏を政調会長に起用したが、岡田代表らほとんどの役員が民主党からの横滑り。党名以外にどこが変わったのかとの批判もある。

The public’s chilly reaction is quite understandable.
　冷ややかな視線を浴びるのも無理はない。

After coming into power in 2009 to end decades of rule by the Liberal Democratic Party, the DPJ did nothing but repeatedly betray the hopes of voters who were looking forward to a new era in Japanese politics.
　自民党の長期政権に代わる新たな政治への期待を背負って０９年に発足した民主党政権は、国民の思いを裏切り続けた。

The DPJ proved itself incapable of living up to its campaign pledges. Its attempts at government led by politicians, rather than by bureaucrats, went nowhere. And the party eventually split over the controversial issue of a consumption tax hike.
　実現できないマニフェスト、空回りした政治主導、そして消費増税をめぐる党の分裂。

The impression cannot be denied that the new Democratic Party did nothing more than welcome back to the fold some of the DPJ members who had broken away at that time.
その時に出ていった議員の一部とよりを戻しただけだ、との印象はぬぐいようがない。

While the DPJ languished after its fall from power, the Abe administration consolidated a “sole winner” political system by winning three national elections in a row, starting with the 2012 Lower House election that was called upon the dissolution of the chamber by then Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda.
　政権を失った民主党が立ちすくむうちに、安倍政権は、民主党の野田内閣による１２年の衆院解散から３度続けて国政選挙に勝ち、「１強」の政治体制を築いてきた。

Abe stresses that the LDP’s return to power has improved the economy, claiming there are 30 percent fewer bankruptcies on his watch than when the DPJ was at the helm.
　安倍首相は「民主党政権時代より、企業倒産件数は約３割減った」などと、政権交代で経済は上向いたと強調する。

But on the other hand, the public’s discontent continues to run deep over growing social disparities and other issues, including that of children who cannot enter child-care facilities.
半面、格差の拡大や待機児童問題などへの国民の不満は根強い。

And as evidenced by his decision to allow Japan to exercise the right to collective self-defense and enact a divisive national security legislation, Abe has been walking a precarious path that may well lead the nation astray from its Constitution.
　首相はまた、集団的自衛権の行使容認や安全保障法制に見られるように、憲法の枠組みを越えかねない危うい道を進む。

What lies at the end of the path is constitutional revision, the sole purpose of which is to change the Constitution itself.
その先に見すえるのは「変えること」を目的とした憲法改正だ。

There are many frustrated voters who are apprehensive of the Abe administration’s style of politics but do not see any alternative. One indication of their frustration is that voter turnout languished just above 52 percent in the 2013 Upper House election as well as the 2014 Lower House poll.
　安倍氏の政権運営に危うさは感じるが、ほかに選択肢が見あたらない――。こんなもどかしさを抱く有権者は多い。安倍政権のもとでの１３年参院選と１４年衆院選がいずれも５２％台の低投票率だったことは、そのひとつの証左だろう。

At the inaugural party convention, Okada expressed “deep remorse” for the DPJ’s failure to live up to the people’s expectations while it was in power. On that note, his party must take the first step forward.
　岡田代表は党大会で、民主党政権時代に期待に応えられなかったことを「深く反省する」と語った。そのうえに、新たな一歩を踏み出すべきときだ。

As the largest opposition party with 156 Diet members, can the Democratic Party become a formidable opponent of the “sole winner” Abe administration? The answer to this holds the key to whether Japanese politics will emerge from its lethargy.
　衆参で１５６人の野党第１党となる民進党が、１強に対峙（たいじ）しうる存在になれるかどうか。それが、政治に緊張感を取り戻せるかどうかのカギを握る。

“Liberty, coexistence and responsibility for the future” are the Democratic Party’s founding principles. The party promises to rectify disparities in education, employment and gender-related matters, and defend constitutionalism. The party is at least heading in the right direction.
　民進党は「自由、共生、未来への責任」を結党の理念とし、教育、雇用、男女の三つの格差是正や立憲主義の堅持を打ち出すという。方向は妥当である。

But the only way in which it can regain the lost trust of the voting public is to commit itself to what every political party is tasked to undertake with patience, which is to heed the voice of each citizen and challenge the ruling party with concrete and persuasive policies.
　国民一人ひとりの思いをすくいあげ、具体的で説得力ある政策として政権にぶつけ続ける。
　政党にしかできないこの地道な作業を通じてしか、信頼を取り戻すことはできない。