鳩山調停失敗 投票で決着を図るのは当然だ

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The Yomiuri Shimbun (Sep. 2, 2010)
DPJ on right course with open showdown
鳩山調停失敗　投票で決着を図るのは当然だ（9月1日付・読売社説）

Prime Minister Naoto Kan and former Democratic Party of Japan Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa on Tuesday formally announced they would run in the upcoming DPJ presidential race. The race is set to be a head-to-head battle between the two.
　菅首相と小沢一郎・前幹事長は民主党代表選への立候補を正式に表明し、代表選は両氏の一騎打ちが確定した。

Importantly, it will be an open battle. It is more reasonable to settle things squarely in a party race rather than behind closed doors in the name of so-called party unity. Openness must be what many people want.
　挙党態勢を名目に「密室談合」で決着させるよりも、代表選で堂々と勝敗を決めるのが筋だ。これこそ多くの国民が求めているものだろう。

Few conditions set

Prior to their separate announcements of their candidacies, Kan and Ozawa held talks and basically agreed that they would cooperate regardless of who wins the race and try to prevent the party from splitting up after the election.
　これに先立って両氏は会談し、代表選後も、勝敗にかかわりなくお互いに協力し、党の分裂を避けることで基本的に一致した。

The talks were held with the mediation of former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and several others who were concerned that a head-on battle between Kan and Ozawa would seriously divide the party.
　菅首相と小沢氏の会談は、両氏が全面対決すれば、党に決定的な亀裂が入ることを懸念する鳩山前首相らが仲介した。

But apparently no concessions were made over whether Ozawa would be granted a post if he were to give up running in the race, or whether anti-Ozawa figures Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito Sengoku and DPJ Secretary General Yukio Edano would retain their posts.
　しかし結局、小沢氏の処遇ポストや、反小沢色の強い仙谷官房長官、枝野幹事長らを引き続き起用するかどうかで、折り合えなかったものとみられている。

During talks a day earlier with Hatoyama, Kan accepted that a so-called troika of Kan, Hatoyama and Ozawa would steer the DPJ-led administration.
　菅首相は、３０日の鳩山氏との会談で、菅、鳩山、小沢３氏の「トロイカ体制」で政権運営にあたる方針を受け入れた。

But if Kan had offered Ozawa inducements to withdraw from the race, which would have allowed Kan to be reelected without a vote, he certainly would have faced criticism that such a process was no different from the old faction-based closed-door politics of the Liberal Democratic Party.
　だが、そのまま小沢氏との間で妥協し、無投票で再選を固めるようなことをしたら、自民党の古い派閥談合政治と同じ、との批判は免れなかったろう。

Ozawa, for his part, must not have wanted to drop out of the race because doing so would make it look as if he had backed down due to the lack of public support for him as shown in various opinion polls.
　一方の小沢氏も、ここで一転、撤退すれば、各種世論調査での不人気にたじろいだと受け止められたに違いない。

Hatoyama, who mediated between the two, bears grave responsibility.
　調停に乗り出した鳩山氏の責任は大きい。

He resigned as prime minister only a few months ago after causing confusion over a number of domestic and foreign policy issues. Such a person should have been kept well away from the center of the political stage.
　内政・外交で迷走を重ね、首相を辞任して間もない鳩山氏は、本来、謹慎の身であるはずだ。

To make matters worse, Hatoyama had initially expressed support for Kan to remain in the top post but later shifted his backing to Ozawa. It is strange that Hatoyama backed Ozawa, who has yet to clear up the "politics and money" suspicions swirling around him, as the former prime minister called for a "clean party" when he stepped down from the post.
　しかも、鳩山氏は、初めは菅首相続投を支持しながら、中途から小沢氏支持へと変わった。辞任の際、「クリーンな政党を」と言い残しながら、「政治とカネ」の疑惑を抱えたままの小沢氏を推すのもおかしい。

We consider Hatoyama unqualified to act as go-between, as his words and actions have been full of contradictions.
　矛盾に満ちた言動を繰り返している鳩山氏は、調停役として不適格だったのではないか。

A chance to air issues

If the DPJ did not hold a party presidential race, it would have lost a chance to deepen discussions on the responsibility for the party's humiliating defeat in July's House of Councillors election. The intraparty election is an opportunity to review the party manifesto for last year's House of Representatives election, an envisaged increase in the consumption tax rate and basic state policies.
　今回、代表選そのものが見送られたりしていれば、参院選の責任問題はもとより、衆院選政権公約（マニフェスト）の見直し、消費税率引き上げ問題、国の基本政策についての議論を深める機会が失われただろう。

During the official campaigning over the next two weeks, Kan and Ozawa must frankly speak about their visions of the nation's future and how government affairs should be handled.
　２週間にわたって行われる代表選で、菅、小沢の両氏は、国家ビジョンや政権運営のあり方について、自らの見解を率直に語らなければならない。

As the DPJ is no longer an opposition party, the race for its presidency also is a race for the prime ministership. DPJ lawmakers as well as registered party members and supporters must take this to heart when they cast their ballots in the election.
　今回の代表選びは、野党時代と違って首相を選ぶ選挙だ。民主党議員や党員・サポーターは、その点を強く自覚して１票を投じてもらいたい。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Sept. 1, 2010)
（2010年9月1日01時17分 読売新聞）