自民党政権復帰 謙虚に実績積み信頼取り戻せ

The Yomiuri Shimbun (Dec. 18, 2012)
LDP must regain public's trust with achievements
自民党政権復帰　謙虚に実績積み信頼取り戻せ（12月17日付・読売社説）

　◆民主政権迷走への厳しい懲罰だ◆

Voters handed down a stern judgment on the Democratic Party of Japan-led government. They obviously opted for a stable administration from which realistic policies can be expected.
　有権者は、民主党政権に極めて厳しい審判を下した。現実路線で安定を望める政権を選択したと言える。

The Liberal Democratic Party and its likely coalition partner New Komeito together garnered more than 320 seats in the 46th House of Representatives election Sunday to secure a return to power. It was an overwhelming victory but was not met with an air of excitement.
　第４６回衆院選は、自民党と公明党で３２０を超える議席を獲得し、政権復帰を決めた。熱気なき圧勝である。

The DPJ, on the other hand, suffered a historic, crushing setback after losing a huge number of seats. Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda announced Sunday night he would resign as party president.
　民主党は、議席を激減させ、歴史的敗北を喫した。野田首相は、党代表の辞任を表明した。

LDP President Shinzo Abe, who is poised to assume the post of prime minister for the second time, said the election results "do not show the LDP fully regained the people's confidence." The party should not be complacent. It will be essential for it to resolve a host of challenges, including economic revitalization and reconstruction from last year's disaster, so it can regain public confidence.
　２度目の首相就任が確実となった安倍総裁は「自民党に完全に信頼が戻ったということではない」と述べた。自民党は、おごってはならない。経済再生や復興など山積する課題を着実に解決し、信頼を取り戻すことが肝要だ。

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Ishin no Kai secures foothold
　◆維新も国政に影響力◆

One factor behind the LDP's victory may be that the voters wanted to punish the DPJ-led administration for its blunders.
　自民党の勝因は、民主党政権に対する有権者の「懲罰」の感情が強く働いたことにある。いわば敵失に助けられた面が大きい。

The Hatoyama administration's haphazard handling of the relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station in Okinawa Prefecture undermined the relationship of trust between the central and local governments and crippled the Japan-U.S. alliance.
　鳩山内閣の米軍普天間飛行場移設問題を巡る場当たり的対応は政府と沖縄との信頼関係を決定的に壊し、日米同盟も揺るがせた。

The following Kan Cabinet took a winding course in coping with the aftermath of the Great East Japan Earthquake and the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. Public distrust in politics peaked as Prime Minister Naoto Kan clung to his post after announcing his intention to resign.
　菅内閣は、東日本大震災や原発事故処理で迷走した。菅首相は退陣を表明しながら居座り、政治不信は頂点に達した。

The Noda administration made some laudable achievements, including the enactment of the law on the integrated reform of the social security and tax systems, but he failed to achieve unity in his party, thereby causing it to split.
　野田内閣は、社会保障・税一体改革関連法の成立など、評価できる点はあったが、民主党をまとめ切れず、党分裂を招いた。

The gap between the people's expectations of the DPJ to effect real change in government three years ago and their subsequent disappointment was demonstrated by the huge loss of seats suffered in Sunday's election. The DPJ's humiliating setback was symbolized by former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's decision not to run in the election and Kan's defeat in a single-seat constituency.
　３年前の政権交代への期待と失望の落差が、大幅な議席減に表れている。鳩山元首相の不出馬と菅前首相の小選挙区での敗退が象徴的である。

Some incumbent Cabinet ministers lost their Diet seats. Among them are Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura, Finance Minister Koriki Jojima, Internal Affairs and Communications Minister Shinji Tarutoko, and Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Minister Makiko Tanaka.
　藤村官房長官、城島財務相、樽床総務相、田中文部科学相ら現職閣僚が相次いで落選した。

Many voters must have used their votes to express their stern criticism of the DPJ over its campaign platform for the 2009 general election, which incorporated such populist policies as a handout of child-rearing allowances and making expressway tolls free without securing definite sources of revenue.
　確たる財源がないのに、子ども手当や高速道路無料化など大衆迎合の政策を盛り込んだ政権公約（マニフェスト）に対する痛烈な批判票が多かったに違いない。

The DPJ must rebuild itself based on the experience it gained as a ruling party.
　民主党は、与党の経験を踏まえて党を再建させねばならない。

Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Restoration Party), which had aimed to become a so-called third political force, made a strong showing, securing enough seats to exert a certain amount of influence on the national political scene. Its two popular campaign faces--party leader Shintaro Ishihara and acting leader Toru Hashimoto--were able to successfully appeal to the voters. Your Party, which has a cooperative relationship with Ishin no Kai, also made gains.
　「第３極」を目指した日本維新の会は躍進し、国政への一定の影響力を確保した。石原代表と橋下代表代行の「二枚看板」がアピールしたのだろう。協力関係にあるみんなの党も議席を伸ばした。

Nippon Mirai no To (Tomorrow Party of Japan) suffered disappointing results. Ichiro Ozawa and other DPJ defectors tried to survive by joining the party headed by Shiga Gov. Yukiko Kada and gathering political forces opposing tax increase and nuclear power generation. Their strategy came up short.
　日本未来の党は惨敗した。滋賀県の嘉田知事を担ぎ、反増税、脱原発勢力の結集を狙った小沢一郎氏ら民主党離党組の生き残り戦略は、失速を余儀なくされた。

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'Zero-nuclear policy' unsuccessful
　◆「原発ゼロ」は広がらず◆

The LDP's election partnership with Komeito in single-seat constituencies bore fruit. And the LDP gained in districts where "third political force" parties competed with another.
　自民党は小選挙区で公明党との選挙協力が奏功した。「第３極」同士が競合する中、漁夫の利を得たとも言える。

The LDP's advance may also partly be attributed to the fact that its policies appeared more convincing than those of other parties.
　自民党の政策が、他党に比べて説得力を持ったこともあろう。

The LDP appealed to voters by pledging to carry out bold monetary-easing policies to end the nation's deflationary trend and implement comprehensive reform of the social security and tax system, centering on the hike in the consumption tax rate.
　自民党は、デフレ脱却のための大胆な金融緩和や、消費税率引き上げを柱とする社会保障と税の一体改革の実行を訴えた。

The party also emphasized its energy policy, under which nuclear power plants whose safety is confirmed will be put back online at least for the time being and the best combination of power generation sources will be decided over time. It did not advocate eliminating nuclear power generation.
　当面は安全性を確認できた原発を再稼働しつつ、時間をかけて最適な電源構成を確立するというエネルギー政策も強調した。「原発ゼロ」は掲げなかった。

The fact that the national security environment has become increasingly harsh may also have helped the LDP widen its appeal to voters as it stressed its pledge of rebuilding the nation's diplomatic policy.
　日本の安全保障環境が厳しさを増していることも、外交の立て直しを強調した自民党への支持拡大につながったのではないか。

The LDP is set to form a coalition government with Komeito. But the coalition cannot secure a majority in the House of Councillors even when the strength of two parties is combined.
　自民党は、公明党と連立政権を組む方針だが、参院では自公両党合わせても過半数に届かない。

It is highly likely the Diet will remain divided with no party holding a majority in the upper house, at least until the next upper house election scheduled for next summer.
少なくとも来年夏の参院選までは衆参ねじれ国会が継続する公算が大きい。

Given this, it is essential for a ruling coalition to maintain cooperation among the three parties--the DPJ, the LDP and Komeito--which realized the comprehensive pension and tax reform, and make thorough efforts to form a consensus in policies.
　一体改革を実現した民自公３党の協調路線を維持し、丁寧に合意形成を図ることが不可欠だ。

As the LDP and Komeito, when combined, have garnered more than the two-thirds of the total seats in the lower house, bills can be passed into law by a second vote even if they are voted down in the upper chamber.
　自公両党は衆院の３分の２以上の議席を獲得したため、参院で法案が否決されても衆院で再可決できる。

Yet precedent shows that if they run the administration high-handedly, they will cause a backlash of public sentiment in the next upper house election. The two parties should bear in mind the need to manage the administration with humility.
だが、強引な政権運営を行えば、次の参院選で民意の揺り戻しを招くという先例がある。謙虚な政権運営を心がけるべきだ。

We were surprised at the wide-ranging swing in the number of seats won by parties, as was seen in the 2005 lower house election contested over the postal privatization issue, the 2009 election that brought a change of government with the DPJ coming into power, and the latest election.
　それにしても郵政解散の２００５年衆院選、政権交代が起きた０９年、そして今回と、獲得議席の振れ幅の大きさに驚かされる。

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Election reform an urgent task
　◆選挙制度改革は急務だ◆

It is characteristic of the single-seat constituency system that parties tend to win more seats than the percentage of all votes they receive would seem to warrant. We cannot help feeling that the current system needs to be corrected.
　政党の得票率以上に議席数に差が出るのが小選挙区制の特徴だとしても、このままの制度で良いのかという思いを禁じ得ない。

Should a large number of Diet members be replaced every time a national election is held, the nation's politics will become unstable as it becomes difficult for policies to be created at the initiative of politicians. Such a development would also weaken the nation's diplomatic power.
　毎回大量の議員が入れ替わるようでは政治が不安定になり、政治主導も発揮しにくい。外交力が弱まるという弊害もある。

We should also keep in mind that the latest election was held with the electoral system in a "state of unconstitutionality" as the Supreme Court has pointed out.
　今回の衆院選は、最高裁が指摘した「違憲状態」のまま実施されたことも、忘れてはならない。

The DPJ, the LDP and Komeito have agreed they would make a drastic review of the lower house election system and make the necessary legal arrangements to reduce the number of lower house seats during the ordinary Diet session next year.
　民自公３党は、来年の通常国会で衆院選挙制度の抜本的な見直しと定数削減について、必要な法整備を行うことを合意している。

It is necessary to shed light on the problems in the current system, which combines single-seat constituencies and proportional representation, and dare to implement a drastic reform, including re-adopting a multiple-seat constituency system. This could be a faster route to rebuilding the nation's politics.
　現行の小選挙区比例代表並立制の問題点を洗い出し、中選挙区制の復活も含めて、抜本改革に踏み切る必要がある。それが日本の政治を立て直す近道でもあろう。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Dec. 17, 2012)
（2012年12月17日04時01分 読売新聞）