赤字国債合意 ねじれ国会の暫定休戦協定だ

The Yomiuri Shimbun (Nov. 15, 2012)
Accord on bond bill a welcome ceasefire
赤字国債合意　ねじれ国会の暫定休戦協定だ（11月14日付・読売社説）

An exit from the battle between the ruling and opposition parties is finally in sight.
　ようやく与野党攻防の出口が見えてきた。

The Democratic Party of Japan, the Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito must create an environment for the dissolution of the House of Representatives based on their latest agreement.
　民主、自民、公明の３党は今回の合意を踏まえて、衆院解散への環境を整えねばならない。

The three parties have formally agreed to revise a bill that will enable the government to issue deficit-covering bonds. The revised bill will introduce a system that allows deficit-covering bonds to be automatically issued until fiscal 2015 once the budget passes the Diet.
　民自公３党が、赤字国債の発行を可能にする特例公債法案の修正で正式に合意した。２０１５年度まで、予算案が成立すれば、自動的に赤字国債発行を認める仕組みを導入する。

Under the divided Diet, the opposition parties, which dominate the House of Councillors, have put pressure on the government by taking the deficit-covering bond bill hostage, but further unproductive political strife can now be avoided because of the latest agreement. We commend the ruling and opposition parties for formulating new rules on the issue.
　衆参ねじれ国会の下、参院で多数を占める野党は法案を人質に政府を揺さぶってきたが、今回の合意で不毛な政争は避けられる。そのために、与野党が、新たなルールを作ったことは評価できる。

Last year, the passage of a similar bill was used as a bargaining tool to bring about the resignation of then Prime Minister Naoto Kan.
　昨年は、法案の成立が菅首相退陣の取引材料になった。

This year, it was used by the opposition parties as a "weapon" to press Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda to dissolve the lower house. However, the delay in Diet passage of the bill led the government to restrain the implementation of the budget, and the distribution of tax grants to local governments fell into arrears. It is only natural that local governments reacted angrily to the delay, with officials saying things like, "It could affect people's lives."
　今年は野田首相に解散を迫る“武器”となり、成立がずれこんだ結果、政府の予算執行の抑制で地方交付税の配分が滞った。地方自治体が「国民生活に影響しかねない」と反発したのは当然だ。

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Bond issuance inevitable

As Noda said, any administration, under the current fiscal situation, would be unable to secure financial resources sufficient to cover the government's spending without issuing deficit-covering bonds.
　野田首相が言うように、今の財政状況では、どんな政権でも、赤字国債を発行せずに歳出に見合う財源を確保できない。

Even if the LDP and Komeito return to power after the next lower house election, they still will not hold a majority in the upper house. So the agreement that the three parties will not use the bill as a political football is not a bad deal for the LDP and Komeito, too.
　自公両党は、仮に衆院選後、政権に復帰しても、参院で過半数の議席を持っていない。法案を政争の具にしないという合意は自公両党にとっても損ではなかろう。

However, one concern still remains in the latest agreement.
　今回の合意には懸念も残る。

The issuance of deficit-covering bonds is an exceptional measure to cover shortages of financial resources. It was originally "a prohibited tactic."
　赤字国債の発行は、財源不足を特例措置として補うもので、本来は“禁じ手”である。

The passage of the bill has been a must, separately from the budget, with the aim of maintaining fiscal discipline and preventing the government's deficit from ballooning out of control.
　予算案とは別に特例公債法案を成立させねばならないとしてきたのは、財政規律を維持し、野放図に借金が膨らまないよう歯止めをかける狙いがあった。

Under the Cabinet of Prime Minister Takeo Miki (1974-76), Finance Minister Masayoshi Ohira stressed the significance of deliberating a deficit-covering bond bill every year, saying in the Diet, "It is conducive to vigilant management of state finances." Nevertheless, deficit-covering bonds have continued to increase, causing serious deterioration of public finances.
　三木内閣当時、大平正芳蔵相は国会で毎年の法案審議について「緊張した財政運営に資する」と述べ、その意義を強調している。それでも、赤字国債は増え続け、深刻な財政悪化を招いた。

If it becomes possible to issue deficit-covering bonds automatically in the future, won't fiscal discipline become lax?
　今後、自動的に発行できるとなれば、財政規律が緩まないか。

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Restraint must be the watchword

The DPJ-LDP-Komeito agreement is based on the premise that the government will work on restraining the amount of deficit-covering bonds it will issue. Even if there is a change in government, the government must keep this in mind when it compiles a budget.
　民自公３党の合意は「特例公債発行額の抑制に取り組むこと」を前提にしている。政権交代があっても、政府はこれを肝に銘じて予算編成に当たらねばならない。

A remaining issue to be solved before the lower house dissolution is reform of the lower house electoral system. The DPJ plans to submit to the Diet a bill to rectify the vote-value disparity and trim the number of lower house seats at the same time.
　解散に向けて残る課題は衆院選挙制度改革である。民主党は「１票の格差」是正と定数削減を同時に行う法案を提出する方向だ。

However, what is most called for now is to resolve "a state of unconstitutionality."
　だが、何より「違憲状態」を解消することが求められている。

Noda said in the Diet, "the vote-value disparity, which is related to the Constitution, is the top priority." The DPJ, the LDP and Komeito should also quickly agree to reduce the number of lower house single-seat constituencies by five as a first step in the electoral reform.
　首相も国会で「憲法と関係のある１票の格差が最優先だ」と答弁した。民自公３党は、小選挙区の「０増５減」先行処理でも、合意を急ぐべきである。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Nov. 14, 2012)
（2012年11月14日01時20分  読売新聞）