延長国会 衆院選へ実のある政策論戦を

The Yomiuri Shimbun(Jun. 3, 2009)
Earnest debate vital in extended Diet session
延長国会　衆院選へ実のある政策論戦を（6月3日付・読売社説）

The current Diet session has been extended by 55 days through July 28, and it looks highly likely that Prime Minister Taro Aso will dissolve the House of Representatives before the extended session ends.
　国会会期が７月２８日まで５５日間延長された。
　この期間中に麻生首相が衆院解散に踏み切る公算が大きいとみられている。

We hope the ruling and opposition parties will earnestly engage in policy debates during the extended session, including holding discussions on securing stable funding for the social security system and national security. Such debates would provide voters with a basis for considered judgment of each party's platform ahead of the coming general election.
次の総選挙に向け有権者に正しい判断材料を示すためにも、延長国会で、与野党は、財源論や安全保障など政策論戦に努めてほしい。

The Diet will discuss important bills, including those related to the fiscal 2009 supplementary budget, an antipiracy bill and a bill to revise the National Pension Law. The ruling parties must ensure these bills are passed during the current Diet session.
　国会では２００９年度補正予算関連法案、海賊対処法案、国民年金法改正案などが積み残されている。いずれも重要法案ばかりだ。与党は、今国会で確実に成立させなければならない。

Aso sought the extension of the current Diet session in an apparent attempt to expand his options regarding the timing of the dissolution of the lower house for the general election and to keep the political initiative.
　首相が長期の会期延長を図ったのは、それだけ衆院解散・総選挙の時期の選択肢を広げ、政局の主導権をとる狙いからだろう。

The Democratic Party of Japan, on the other hand, is seeking the dissolution of the lower house at an early date.
　民主党は、早期の解散を求めている。

We hope the main opposition party, which has said it will not resort to employing tactics to unnecessarily prolong Diet 審議引き延ばし戦術は取らないとしている以上、粛々と法案の審議を進めてもらいたい。
deliberations, will commit itself to holding straightforward deliberations on the bills.

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Paying for pensions

With the lower house election now in sight, each political party likely will move to shape their respective campaign platforms.
　衆院選が射程に入る中で、各党の公約づくりも本格化しよう。

In the lower house election, the parties should debate basic policy differences and their vision for the future of this nation.
　衆院選で争われるべきは、各党の基本政策や、国の将来ビジョンである。

To pull this country out of the worst postwar economic crisis, it is right and proper to actively carry out fiscal stimulus measures in the short term and make all-out efforts to prop up the economy.
　戦後最悪の経済危機を脱するには、当面、積極的な財政出動で景気の回復に全力を挙げるのは当然だ。

In the medium- to long-term, however, the question of how to secure stable resources to fund the social security system and other spending must be addressed.
ただ、中長期的に社会保障費などの安定財源をどう確保するかは極めて重要な課題である。

The Liberal Democratic Party, which has said it expects it will take three years for the country's economy to fully recover, has said it will raise the consumption tax rate to fund the social security system while trimming government expenditure at the same time after this three-year period ends.
　自民党は、景気回復に「全治３年」を見込み、その後は歳出削減と同時に消費税率の引き上げで対応する方針を示している。

The DPJ, for its part, maintains it will secure 20 trillion yen by eliminating wasteful spending--a policy that lacks precision and detail.
　民主党は、「税金の無駄遣いの一掃」で２０兆円を確保するというが、具体性に欠ける。

Concerning the consumption tax, DPJ President Yukio Hatoyama said there is no need to debate a consumption tax hike for the next four years. This stance can only serve to heighten concerns over the prospects for the nation's social security system.
消費税の問題も、鳩山代表のように「４年は議論する必要はない」というのでは、社会保障制度の先行きへの懸念を高めるだけだ。

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Security a key issue

Discussion focusing on the specifics of national security policy also is necessary.
　安全保障政策も、もっと具体論に踏み込んだ議論が必要だ。

DPJ Secretary General Katsuya Okada has, for example, proposed an international treaty that would make Japan and the Korean Peninsula a nuclear weapon-free zone. Okada has urged the United States to abandon the preemptive use of nuclear weapons and said Japan will step out from under the U.S. nuclear umbrella if such a treaty comes about.
　例えば、民主党の岡田幹事長は朝鮮半島と日本を「非核兵器地帯」とする条約を提唱している。米国に核の先制不使用を求め、条約が実現すれば「日本は米国の核の傘から出ることになる」という。

Okada also said North Korea's abandonment of nuclear weapons is a precondition. However, Pyongyang has thrown the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty into the garbage bin. Simply proposing a treaty can never remove this nuclear threat.
　北朝鮮の核放棄が前提だともいうが、相手は核拡散防止条約まで反故(ほご)にした国だ。条約を唱えるだけでは核の脅威は解消しない。

Furthermore, China and Russia are nuclear-armed. China's missiles are locked on Japan as well. Japan's peace and security would not be guaranteed should the country unilaterally step out from beneath the U.S. nuclear umbrella.
　しかも、中国とロシアは核を保有したままだ。中国のミサイルは日本にも照準を合わせている。米国の「核の傘」から日本が一方的に脱して、日本の平和と安全が本当に保てるだろうか。

If Aso and Hatoyama make clear their differences on these matters through head-to-head debates in the Diet, these differences likely would become key points of contention in the lower house election campaign.
　首相と鳩山代表による党首討論などを通じ、これらの主張の違いが明確になれば、それが衆院選の争点にもなるだろう。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, June 3, 2009)
（2009年6月3日01時34分 読売新聞）