首相問責可決 自らを貶めた自民党の「賛成」

The Yomiuri Shimbun (Aug. 31, 2012)
LDP should put responsibilities ahead of party politics
首相問責可決　自らを貶めた自民党の「賛成」（8月30日付・読売社説）

The submission of a censure motion against Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda can serve no meaningful purpose.
　野田首相への問責決議に一体、どんな意味があるというのか。

Censure motions do not have the power to force prime ministers to dissolve the House of Representatives. It is shocking to witness the opposition camp putting party interests first, with members abandoning their legislative responsibilities.
　首相を衆院解散に追い込めるわけではない。立法府の一員としての責任を放棄し、党利党略に走る野党の姿勢には、あきれるばかりだ。

On Wednesday, the opposition-controlled House of Councillors passed a censure motion against Noda. The motion was jointly submitted by seven political groups, including People's Life First and Your Party. Most opposition groups, including the Liberal Democratic Party, approved the motion, outnumbering the ruling parties.
　国民の生活が第一、みんなの党など参院の野党７会派が提出した首相問責決議案は２９日、野党の賛成多数により、可決された。自民党は賛成票を投じた。

The censure motion denounced the enactment of the consumption tax hike bills, saying it disregarded public opinion. The motion also criticized the Democratic Party of Japan, LDP and New Komeito for cooperating to pass the bills, saying they "acted against the spirit of parliamentary democracy."
　問責決議は、消費税率引き上げは国民の声に背くとし、関連法を成立させた民主、自民、公明の３党協議も「議会制民主主義が守られていない」と非難している。

However, this accusation seems strange, considering that about 80 percent of all lower and upper house members--including those from the LDP--voted in favor of the bills.
　だが、これはおかしい。自民党を含め、衆参両院議員の約８割が賛成した法律である。

How could the LDP support such a censure motion at this stage? Through its members' actions, the LDP has demeaned itself as a political party. On the other hand, Komeito stayed consistent with its pro-tax hike stance by abstaining from voting on the censure motion.
　自民党が今更、こんな決議に賛成したことは到底、理解できない。政党として自らを貶(おとし)める行為だ。公明党は採決で棄権して、筋を通したではないか。

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Time to cooperate on crucial issues

LDP President Sadakazu Tanigaki explained the party's reason for approving the censure motion, saying, "The Noda administration has reached the limit of its ability to run the country, both in regards to domestic and foreign affairs."
　自民党の谷垣総裁は、問責の理由について、「内政、外交の両面にわたって今の野田政権が国政を進めることは限界だ」と述べた。

"The foundation of Japan's diplomacy is now crumbling," Tanigaki added.
「日本外交の基礎がガタガタになっている」とも批判した。

However, Tanigaki's remarks are not convincing reasons for censuring the prime minister.
　だが、首相を問責する根拠としては説得力に欠ける。

The LDP cannot deny its role in longstanding territorial issues, such as the dispute over the Takeshima islands, as the party held the reins of government for so many years before the DPJ took power.
　竹島など領土問題では、長年政権を担当してきた自民党も責任を免れない。

Now is the time for the ruling and opposition parties to join forces to deal with the threat of China, South Korea and Russia encroaching on Japan's territory and waters. An act such as the censure motion is akin to shooting the prime minister in the back, and could undermine national interests.
領土・領海に対する中国や韓国、ロシアの攻勢に、与野党は結束して対応すべきなのに、首相に、後ろから弾を撃つような行為は国益を損ねよう。

Regarding domestic affairs, the DPJ, LDP and Komeito succeeded in joining hands to realize integrated reform of the social security and tax systems, as each party agreed that the nation must rebuild its finances.
　内政では、民自公３党が財政再建の必要性に対する認識を共有し、社会保障と税の一体改革の実現へ連携したばかりである。

The DPJ has been criticized for its high-handed management of the Diet, apparently a major problem in the party, which was demonstrated in cases such as the handling of bills to reform the lower house's electoral system. Still, the censure motion could destroy the cooperative relationship developed among the three parties. In the worst-case scenario, the agreement between the leaders of the DPJ, LDP and Komeito to dissolve the lower house "sometime soon" could be scrapped.
　衆院選挙制度改革に関する法案の扱いなど民主党の強引な国会運営に大きな問題があるとはいえ、問責決議は、民自公３党の協調路線を壊す。「近いうち」という衆院解散の民自公の党首合意さえ反古(ほご)になりかねない。

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'Chamber of political maneuvering'

From now on, the LDP plans to refuse to participate in Diet deliberations except for the approval of personnel appointments for a nuclear regulatory commission and certain bills drafted by individual lawmakers. This means that the legislature will remain paralyzed on important issues.
　今後、自民党は原子力規制委員会の国会同意人事や一部の議員立法を除いて審議拒否する方針だ。「決められない政治」が続く。

Pressing legislation such as a bill to allow the government to issue deficit-covering bonds, bills on the introduction of a personal identification numbering system, and a bill asking the Diet to approve Japan's joining the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, are still undecided in the Diet.
　国会では、赤字国債の発行を可能にする特例公債法案をはじめ、共通番号制度関連法案（マイナンバー法案）、ハーグ条約承認案など重要案件が積み残された。

Unlike no-confidence motions passed against the Cabinet by the lower house, censure motions in the upper house do not create legal grounds for ousting Cabinet ministers. However, opposition parties have been using censure motions as a tool to attack the government and the ruling parties by refusing to participate in Diet deliberations and demanding the resignation of the prime minister and other Cabinet ministers.
　衆院の内閣不信任決議と違い、参院の問責決議には法的根拠がない。それを政府・与党攻撃の手段にして審議を拒否し、首相・閣僚の交代を迫る。

How long will this malicious practice continue? We should not let the upper house become "the chamber of political maneuvering."
こんな悪習をいつまで繰り返すのか。参院を「政局の府」にしてはならない。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Aug. 30, 2012)
（2012年8月30日01時38分 読売新聞）