鳩山民主党 小沢路線踏襲は理解されるか

The Yomiuri Shimbun(May. 17, 2009)
DPJ post-Ozawa course must be constructive
鳩山民主党　小沢路線踏襲は理解されるか（5月17日付・読売社説）

Through its choice of Yukio Hatoyama as leader, the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan has chosen not to rethink the course taken by former party leader Ichiro Ozawa, and will instead follow a similar line.
　民主党は、小沢路線の見直しでなく、踏襲を選択した。

The question now is whether Hatoyama's approach will secure public understanding and support.
問題は、その選択が国民に理解・支持されるかどうかだ。

On Saturday, DPJ Secretary General Hatoyama was elected the party's new president. Rival Vice President Katsuya Okada closed the gap that early opinion polls suggested existed, but he was unable to prevail.
　民主党の新しい代表に鳩山由紀夫幹事長（６２）が選出された。岡田克也副代表（５５）は追い上げたが、及ばなかった。

Hatoyama, 62, was party secretary general for more than 3-1/2 years and established a good relationship with factional groups within the party. He also received much praise from DPJ lawmakers as a safe pair of hands in the position.
　鳩山代表は３年半以上、幹事長を務め、党内各グループと良好な関係を築いた。安定感とバランス感覚が評価された。

The main reason for his victory, though, was that he was able to expand his support base to DPJ lawmakers in the House of Councillors, who hold almost half of the party's Diet seats.
党所属国会議員の約半数を占める参院で支持を広げたことが勝因となった。

Fifty-five-year-old Okada, meanwhile, was praised by DPJ lawmakers for his clean image, and appeared in opinion polls to have more public support than Hatoyama and came out on top in a survey by DPJ prefectural chapters.
　岡田氏はクリーンな印象が評価され、世論調査や民主党の地方県連の予備調査で、鳩山代表より高い支持を得た。

Many DPJ lawmakers in the House of Representatives said they had expected Okada to be the party's "front man" for the next general election.
衆院議員には「総選挙の顔」との期待があった。

Saturday's contest came down largely to the issue of how similar the two candidates were to Ozawa.
　代表選は、小沢一郎前代表との距離が大きな対立軸となった。

Hatoyama stated clearly his belief that the party is what it is today because of Ozawa, and emphasized his intention to continue the course mapped out by Ozawa.
　鳩山代表は、「小沢氏のおかげで今日の民主党がある」と言明し、小沢路線を継承、発展させる方針を前面に掲げた。

Okada, for his part, had praised Ozawa's performance in steering the DPJ to victory in the 2007 upper house election. But he also had distanced himself from Ozawa's policy line, and some of his comments were tinged with criticism.
　岡田氏は、２００７年参院選で勝利した小沢氏の実績を評価しながらも、小沢路線とは距離を置き、批判もにじませた。

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Weaning party off Ozawa?

For better or worse, the DPJ has relied heavily on Ozawa's strong personality and leadership. Hatoyama intends to appoint Ozawa to an important post in the party's new leadership, meaning Ozawa will still retain influence in the party.
　良くも悪くも、民主党は小沢氏の強烈な個性と指導力に依存してきた。鳩山代表は新体制でも、小沢氏を要職に起用する意向で、小沢氏の影響力は維持される。

Hatoyama has said he will not allow his regime to be dismissed as a puppet with Ozawa pulling the strings. But ensuring this will require tangible action, including by showing his independence through his management of the party and Diet.
　鳩山代表は、「小沢の傀儡(かいらい)政権と呼ばれるつもりは一切ない」と言う。党運営や国会対策を通じて「鳩山色」を出すなど、行動で示すことが求められよう。

Hatoyama will have to move quickly to establish a unified approach within the party to the next lower house election. He also will be tasked with bolstering a party scarred by a scandal in which one of Ozawa's secretaries was arrested and indicted over the taking and false reporting of illegal donations from a scandal-tainted general contractor.

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DPJ platform needs clarity

But doing all this will not be easy.

One place to start would be to flesh out and improve the contents of the party manifesto.
　鳩山代表が早急に取り組むべきは、衆院選に向けて、挙党一致体制を構築し、小沢氏の「政治とカネ」の問題で傷ついた党の立て直しを図ることだろう。ただ、それは簡単な作業ではない。

　政権公約の充実も課題だ。

It was reasonable for Okada to state that policies would not be put into practice without adequate financial resources. If the DPJ does not even allow party members to discuss a possible consumption tax rate hike, it can hardly be regarded as a responsible party. The DPJ should not avoid clarifying where the financial resources for policies--including allowances for infants and a program to compensate farmers for income shortfalls--will come from.
　岡田氏が「財源なくして政策なし」と主張したのはもっともだ。将来の消費税率引き上げの議論さえ封印するのでは、責任政党とは言えない。子ども手当、農家の所得補償などの政策の財源を明確化する作業を避けてはなるまい。

It also is necessary for the DPJ to map out comprehensive diplomatic and security policies.
　包括的な外交・安全保障政策も策定する必要がある。

Although the DPJ acknowledges the importance of the Japan-U.S. alliance, it emphasizes only that Japan should be up-front with the United States. The DPJ should instead say what it can do to strengthen the alliance and clearly outline what kind of responsibilities Japan should be shouldering in the international community.
　民主党は、日米同盟の重要性は認めながら、米国に注文する姿勢ばかりを強調している。日本が国際社会でどんな役割を担い、同盟強化に何をするかをこそ、明確に打ち出すべきだろう。

In the Diet session this week, attention will be focused on deliberations at the upper house on the fiscal 2009 supplementary budget. Hatoyama indicated the DPJ would not try to delay deliberations and that he would be receptive to debate between himself and Prime Minister Taro Aso.
　週明けの国会では、補正予算案の参院審議が焦点となる。鳩山代表は、審議の引き延ばしはしない方針を示す一方で、党首討論の開催にも前向きの姿勢を示した。

We hope under its new leadership the DPJ will tackle Diet affairs constructively.
建設的な国会対応を期待したい。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, May 17, 2009)
（2009年5月17日01時24分 読売新聞）