秋の臨時国会 先送りは政権の責任放棄だ

The Yomiuri Shimbun (Oct. 7, 2012)
Govt must convene Diet swiftly and not abdicate responsibility
秋の臨時国会　先送りは政権の責任放棄だ（10月6日付・読売社説）

Moves are afoot that may lead to postponement of talks between the leaders of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan and the two major opposition parties, the Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito, as well as delay the convocation of an extraordinary Diet session that was scheduled for this autumn.
　民主、自民、公明３党の党首会談と秋の臨時国会が先送りされるような動きが強まってきた。

This undoubtedly runs contrary to Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's stated goal of realizing "politics capable of making resolute decisions."
　野田首相が掲げる「決断する政治」に、明らかに逆行している。

The LDP's new president, Shinzo Abe, met Komeito chief Natsuo Yamaguchi on Friday, and they agreed to pressure Noda to dissolve the House of Representatives for a general election this year, based on the prime minister's pledge in August to do so "sometime soon."
　自民党の安倍総裁と公明党の山口代表が会談し、「近いうち」の衆院解散・総選挙という首相の約束に基づき、「年内の解散」を要求する方針で一致した。

In the meeting, Yamaguchi said voting and vote counting for a general election should be completed no later than Dec. 9, a date he considered a "commonsense" time limit.
山口氏は１２月９日投開票が「常識的なリミット（期限）」と指摘した。

The heads of the two major opposition parties also confirmed they would press the prime minister in a meeting of the three parties' chiefs to clearly explain how he would pass a bill submitted by the government to enable the issuance of deficit-covering bonds.
　両氏は、赤字国債発行を可能にする特例公債法案の成立への「解決策」を首相が３党首会談で示すよう求めることも確認した。

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Govt, DPJ bear more blame

Noda's pledge to dissolve the lower house soon was part of the three-party agreement reached over comprehensive reform of the social security and tax systems. We see the demand made by the LDP and Komeito for this pledge to be fulfilled as reasonable.
　「近いうち」の解散は、社会保障と税の一体改革に関する民自公３党合意に含まれる。自公両党が履行を求めるのは理解できる。

A delay in passing the bond bill would force the government to cut back on spending called for in the state budget, which could adversely impact local government finances and people's lives. The opposition camp, therefore, should not make approval of the bond bill contingent on dissolving the lower house.
　ただ、特例公債法案成立が遅れれば、政府予算の執行抑制により地方財政や国民生活に一層の悪影響を及ぼす。野党は、解散を法案成立の条件にすべきではない。

However, more problematic by far is how the government and the DPJ have dealt with these matters.
　無論、より問題が大きいのは政府・民主党の対応である。

It should be noted that it was Noda's idea to hold a meeting of the leaders of the three parties, as he wanted to "reconfirm the three-party agreement" on social security and tax reform.
　そもそも「一体改革の３党合意を再確認したい」と３党首会談を言い出したのは、野田首相だ。

However, the prime minister and his party have failed even to sound out the LDP and Komeito about the feasibility of a meeting of the heads of the three parties, despite a full week having passed since Abe became LDP president. We feel the DPJ sorely lacks the sense of responsibility required of a ruling party.
安倍氏の総裁選出後、既に１週間以上になるのに、会談の打診さえしていないのは、政権党の自覚を欠いているのではないか。

Moves by DPJ lawmakers to leave the party have continued even after the party's leadership election last month. If eight more DPJ Diet members were to bolt, the ruling bloc would lose its majority in the lower house.
　民主党は代表選後も離党の動きが収まらない。あと８人が離党すれば与党全体でも衆院の過半数を割る。

The party also fears that if an extraordinary Diet session were convened without an agreement in place with the LDP and Komeito on key issues, the ruling camp would be unable to defeat a no-confidence motion against the Cabinet, thus forcing the prime minister to dissolve the lower house.
自公両党との合意もなしで臨時国会を開けば、内閣不信任決議案を否決できず、解散に追い込まれかねないとの懸念がある。

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No excuse for procrastination

The revelation that a prefectural DPJ chapter headed by Justice Minister Keishu Tanaka received donations from a company run by a Taiwan national has dealt a fresh blow to the Noda administration.
　田中法相が代表を務める党総支部が、在日台湾人の経営する会社から政治献金を受けていたことも政権への新たな打撃となった。

Earlier, the DPJ faced two similar scandals where political donations from foreign nationals, which are banned by the Political Funds Control Law, were accepted by former Prime Minister Naoto Kan and Seiji Maehara, the current state minister in charge of national policy.
　民主党では、菅前首相や前原国家戦略相にも外国人献金が発覚している。

The fact that Tanaka was appointed to the Cabinet without sufficient investigation into whether he was free of such problems makes us question the DPJ's capacity to govern.
同様の問題がないか、事前に十分確認することなく、田中氏を入閣させたこと自体、党の統治能力に疑問符が付く。

The government choosing not to convene a Diet session for fear of being brought to task by the opposition over these issues would be a grave mistake in terms of priorities.
　こうした問題などを追及されることを恐れて、国会を開かないというなら、本末転倒である。

No time must be wasted in passing the bill to allow deficit-covering bonds to be issued, as well as legislation to rectify vote-value disparities in lower house elections. These urgent political tasks must be accomplished through an extraordinary Diet session as early as possible.
　特例公債法案や衆院選の「１票の格差」是正は、もはや先送りができない。早急に臨時国会を開き、優先的に処理すべきだ。

The Noda Cabinet should not be allowed to put off convening the Diet while trying to shift the blame for being unable to issue deficit-covering bonds to the opposition and asserting the lower house cannot be dissolved because of the "state of unconstitutionality" of the electoral system.
　野田政権が国会召集を先延ばしする一方で、赤字国債が発行できない責任を野党に押しつけ、「違憲状態」では解散できないと主張するのは、許されない。

It is questionable whether any administration that fails to address policy matters and attempts to delay dissolution of the lower house is fit to survive.
　政策に取り組まず、解散を遅らせることを目標とするような政権は、存在意義が問われる。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Oct. 6, 2012)
（2012年10月6日01時06分 読売新聞）