衆院選主要な争点 日本の国家像を具体的に語れ

The Yomiuri Shimbun (Nov. 21, 2012)
Political parties must spell out their visions for Japan
衆院選主要な争点　日本の国家像を具体的に語れ（11月20日付・読売社説）

　◆現実的な経済再生策が問われる◆

Japan stands at a crossroads. The direction it takes will be critical to determining whether Japan can remain one of the world's leading nations.
　日本は今、「一流国」であり続けることができるかどうかの重大な岐路に立っている。

As political gridlock continues and the economy staggers along, the people's sense that the country is stagnating has been growing. How can the nation overcome this situation?
　「決められない政治」が続き、経済も低迷する中、国民の閉塞感は強まるばかりだ。どう乗り越えていくか。

During the upcoming House of Representatives election campaign, we urge each party to present the course they want Japan to pursue and a new "vision" for this nation. Each party then needs to provide voters with detailed policy proposals based on these ideas.
　衆院選で各党は、日本の針路と新たな「国家像」を提示すべきだ。それを踏まえて有権者に具体的な政策を訴える必要がある。

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How to overcome deflation?
　◆デフレ脱却への方策は◆

In his book, Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Yukio Edano pointed out that the nation must wake up from its dreamlike "growth illusion" and face up to reality. Edano argues that Japan, which has become a mature society, can no longer expect growth to just happen. Even maintaining Japan's economic vigor is not an easy task, he says.
　枝野経済産業相は著書で、「成長幻想」という夢から覚めて、現実と向き合うべきだと指摘する。成熟社会となった日本ではもはや成長は望めず、経済の活力維持さえ容易ではないという見解だ。

Behind the failure of the Democratic Party of Japan-led administration to hammer out an effective growth strategy and economy-boosting measures, we suspect "pessimism" like Edano's is rooted in people's minds.
　民主党政権で有効な成長戦略や経済対策が打ち出せなかった背景には、枝野氏のような“悲観論”が根強いこともあるのではないか。

But if economic sluggishness and deflation continue, which leads to negative growth, it might further hollow out the nation's industry and shake the foundation of social security systems and national security.
　だが、マイナス成長に陥るような景気低迷とデフレが続けば、産業が空洞化し、社会保障や安全保障の基盤が揺らぎかねない。

Consequently, we believe it essential for the nation to pursue stable growth and enhance its international competitiveness so it can maintain its national strength.
　だからこそ、安定成長を追求し、国際競争力を高めることが、日本の国力の維持には不可欠である。

How to overcome deflation, reignite the economy and rectify disparities are probably the issues of most interest to people ahead of the election.
　いかにデフレから脱却し、経済再生や格差是正を図るかは、国民の関心が最も高い争点だろう。

Liberal Democratic Party President Shinzo Abe has said his administration, if realized, would work closely with the Bank of Japan in policy coordination to implement bold monetary easing measures. He also said the LDP-led administration would reinvigorate regional economies by "improving infrastructure to serve as investment for the future."
　自民党の安倍総裁は、日銀との政策協調で大胆な金融緩和に取り組むとともに、「未来への投資となるインフラ整備」で地域を活性化させていくと語った。

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda had few kind words for the LDP plan, saying, "I don't think Japan can be revitalized through a policy of promoting lavish public works projects." Instead, he again trumpeted his government's revitalization strategy aimed at fostering new markets in such fields as the environment and medicine and creating jobs.
　野田首相は、「公共事業をばらまく政策で日本が再生するとは思えない」と自民党をけん制する一方、環境や医療などを中心に新たな市場と雇用の創出を目指す再生戦略を強調している。

But this strategy has so far produced little. The DPJ should present more convincing economic measures.
　ただ、これまで戦略の成果は乏しかった。民主党は説得力のある経済対策を打ち出すべきだ。

Japan's future will be swayed by whether it participates in the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade framework to harness the vigor of rapidly growing Asian economies. The DPJ and Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Restoration Party) are set to vocally support joining the TPP talks.
　急成長を遂げるアジアの活力を取り込むため、環太平洋経済連携協定（ＴＰＰ）に参加するかどうかは、日本の将来を左右しよう。民主党、日本維新の会などは積極的に推進する構えだ。

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TPP, nuclear energy key issues
　◆ＴＰＰと原発がカギ◆

The LDP has taken a cautious stance on the TPP. It opposes the nation's participation in TPP negotiations as long as the pact is premised on the elimination of all tariffs "without sanctuary." But Abe, stressing the LDP's bargaining leverage, is poised to shift to a stance that supports participation in the talks. This change of tack is reasonable since the party seeks to return to power.
　自民党は「聖域なき関税撤廃を前提にする限り、交渉参加に反対」と慎重な姿勢をとってきたが、安倍氏は自民党の「交渉力」を強調し、交渉参加へカジを切ろうとしている。政権復帰を目指す以上、当然の軌道修正である。

In preparation for further market liberalization, deeper discussions should be held on how to strengthen the international competitiveness of Japan's agricultural sector.
　一層の市場開放に備え、農業の国際競争力を強化する方策についても議論を深めねばならない。

Deciding on an energy policy--especially what to do with the nation's nuclear power plants--also will be essential in designing Japan's future.
　原発・エネルギー政策も日本の将来像と直結する重要政策だ。

The DPJ has declared a policy of achieving "zero nuclear power generation" by the 2030s.
　民主党は２０３０年代に「原発ゼロ」を目指す方針を掲げた。

However, it is naive to expect that renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind power, will smoothly become more widely used. Japan's trade deficit has reached a record high, partly due to increased costs for fuel for thermal power generation as a substitute for idled nuclear reactors. It seems unavoidable that electricity charges will be raised further.
　だが、太陽光、風力など再生可能エネルギーの普及に過大な期待は禁物だ。原発を代替する火力発電の燃料費増で日本の貿易赤字は過去最悪の水準に膨らんだ。電気料金の値上げは避けられまい。

There also are fears that abolishing nuclear plants will lead to increased greenhouse gas emissions, which will have an adverse impact on the environment.
　温室効果ガスの排出増による環境への悪影響も懸念される。

It is irresponsible to tout the "zero nuclear" policy without showing a concrete path to achieve this goal. The business world and the United States, which concluded a nuclear energy cooperation agreement with Japan, have expressed strong concern over the nation's energy policy.
　「原発ゼロ」への具体的な道筋を示さなければ無責任だ。経済界や日本と原子力協定を結ぶ米国なども強い懸念を示している。

On this point, we applaud the LDP for declaring it will "act responsibly" to restart idled nuclear plants after it returns to power. We urge the party to reveal its medium- to long-term energy policy as well.
　自民党が、原発の再稼働を「政府が責任を持って」進めるとしている点は評価できる。中長期的な政策も明らかにすべきだ。

Integrated reform of the social security and tax systems will also be a major issue in the election, as some parties have called for the consumption tax increase to be annulled or frozen.
　社会保障と税の一体改革も、消費税率引き上げの凍結や撤回を主張する政党が少なくない以上、大きな争点である。

Under the law on the integrated reform, which was enacted through concerted efforts by the DPJ, LDP and New Komeito, the consumption tax rate will be raised from 5 percent to 8 percent in April 2014, and to 10 percent in October 2015.
　民主、自民、公明の３党を中心に成立させた一体改革法は現行５％の消費税を１４年４月に８％、１５年１０月には１０％に引き上げる。

In our view, parties are just pandering to the public if their objective is only to prevent the consumption tax from being raised. They need to clarify how else they could fund social security costs, which are increasing by 1 trillion yen every year, and rebuild the nation's finances.
　単なる増税反対なら、大衆迎合にほかならない。毎年１兆円前後も増え続ける社会保障費を賄い、財政を再建する手立ても明らかにすることが求められる。

In its campaign manifesto for the Dec. 16 election, Komeito included a pledge to introduce a reduced consumption tax rate for daily necessities to alleviate the burden the tax hike would impose on low-income earners. We believe this reduced rate issue also might become a major topic during the campaign.
　公明党は政権公約（マニフェスト）に消費増税に伴う低所得者対策として軽減税率導入を掲げた。有力な論点になろう。

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Debate security matters actively
　◆主権・領土で論戦を◆

Depending on the outcome of the election, a new administration could come to power. However, the nation's basic policies on diplomacy and national security, which have their foundations in the Japan-U.S. alliance, should be resolutely maintained.
　政権交代しても、日米同盟を基軸とする外交・安全保障政策の基本は堅持しなければならない。

Parties should spell out their plans for rebuilding ties with China and South Korea, which have been seriously strained by tensions over the Senkaku Islands and Takeshima islands, respectively. They also should actively debate issues such as whether to enable Japan to exercise its right to collective self-defense and to relocate the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station in Okinawa Prefecture.
　尖閣諸島、竹島で悪化した日中、日韓関係をどう立て直すか。集団的自衛権の行使や米軍普天間飛行場移設問題も議論すべきだ。

Regarding reform of the lower house electoral system, various problems have been pointed out in the current system that combines single-seat constituencies with proportional representation. We expect parties to address this matter, including whether to reintroduce a multimember constituency system.
　衆院選挙制度改革では現行の小選挙区比例代表並立制に様々な問題が指摘されている。中選挙区制の復活も含めて論じてほしい。

Parties must not skirt the issue of the division of roles between the two houses--a point that has plagued the bicameral system. The House of Councillors, which wields too much power, is urgently in need of reconstruction, and the nation's political functions must be restored.
　その際、衆院と参院にどんな役割を持たせるか、二院制の問題に踏み込まざるを得ない。「強すぎる参院」の在り方を改め、政治の機能を回復することは急務だ。

Finally, we want to remind all parties that whether to amend the Constitution also is an important topic that deserves to be debated in the election campaign.
　憲法改正が、重要な争点であることも忘れてはなるまい。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Nov. 20, 2012)
（2012年11月20日01時10分 読売新聞）