都議会ヤジ問題 セクハラ謝罪で収拾できるか

The Yomiuri Shimbun
Will one apology resolve issue of sexist remarks at assembly?
都議会ヤジ問題　セクハラ謝罪で収拾できるか

Why didn’t the male assembly member come forward sooner to admit to the sexist remark he made toward a female colleague during a Tokyo Metropolitan assembly session?
　なぜ、もっと早く名乗り出て、謝罪できなかったのだろうか。

During a session last Wednesday, Ayaka Shiomura of Your Party was raising a question about the metropolitan government’s support measures for pregnancy and child-rearing.
　東京都議会で、みんなの党の塩村文夏都議が質問中に浴びせられたヤジの問題である。

She did so by taking into account the current situation in which women tend to marry and give birth later in life, while an increasing number of women are receiving fertility treatment.
　１８日の本会議で、塩村氏は、晩婚・晩産の傾向が進み、不妊治療を受ける女性が増えている現状を踏まえ、都の子育て支援体制などについて質問した。

A male assembly member then yelled at her, “You should get married soon.” The remark was said to be followed by other similarly harassing remarks, although in different voices, such as “You should have a baby, yourself, first” and “Can’t you have a baby?”
　その際、議場から、男性の声で「早く結婚した方がいいんじゃないか」というヤジが飛んだ。別の声で「まずは自分が産めよ」「産めないのか」といった不規則発言も続いたという。

There was even laughter from those who had apparently been amused by the hecklers’ remarks.
　議場では、ヤジを面白がるような笑い声さえ上がった。

We are surprised by the disgraceful conduct of the hecklers and their followers at the assembly.
　ヤジの張本人や同調した議員の不見識には、あきれるばかりだ。

We wonder how such remarks sound to those women who would very much like to have a baby but are unable to do so, and to couples who are continuously undergoing fertility treatment.
子どもを産みたくても産めない女性や、不妊治療を続ける夫婦には、どう聞こえただろうか。

Heckling has been described as “flowers in the assembly,” meaning the right kind of remarks made at the right moments can strike to the heart of the debate, spurring and invigorating productive discussions.
　「ヤジは議会の華」とも言われ、核心を突いたヤジが議論を活性化させることもある。

However, it is a matter of course that sexist remarks impairing the dignity of an individual are unpardonable.
だが、個人の尊厳を傷つけるセクハラ発言が許されないのは、当然である。

Tardy confession

On Monday, Akihiro Suzuki, an assembly member of the Liberal Democratic Party, at last came forward to admit that he was the one who made the first heckling remark. On the same day, Suzuki met with Shiomura and made an apology with his head bowed, saying, “I sincerely apologize for causing anguish.”
　２３日になって、自民党の鈴木章浩都議が、最初にヤジを飛ばしたことをようやく認めた。塩村氏に面会し、「ご心痛をおかけして誠に申し訳ない」と頭を下げた。

At a press conference earlier in the day, Suzuki said, “I didn’t mean to slander her...I had missed an opportunity to apologize earlier,” adding that “It can’t be helped that I’m being criticized for running away.”
　鈴木氏は記者会見で、「誹謗ひぼうするつもりはなかった。謝罪する機会を逸してしまった」と釈明し、「逃げていたと言われても仕方ない」と述べた。

Osamu Yoshiwara, secretary general of the LDP grouping in the metropolitan assembly, also apologized as the group’s representative, saying, “We will take the gravity of the matter seriously.”
　都議会自民党の吉原修幹事長も「事の重大性を深く受け止める」と、会派代表として謝罪した。

Suzuki had consistently denied his involvement in the heckling. As the issue swelled to serious proportions, he was probably driven into a corner with no way out but to admit to his actions.
　鈴木氏はこれまで、ヤジへの関与を一貫して否定していた。騒ぎが大きくなり、名乗り出ざるを得ない状況に追い込まれたということだろう。

Taking responsibility for his remark, Suzuki left the LDP grouping in the assembly, but he said he would remain as an assembly member.
　鈴木氏は、発言の責任を取り、会派を離脱したが、都議としての活動は続けるという。

Following Suzuki’s apology, Shiomura said, “I am somewhat relieved...I can bring the issue to a certain end.”
　塩村氏は、鈴木氏の謝罪について、「少しほっとした」「一つの区切りがついた」と語った。

Regarding the fact that there has so far been no one, besides Suzuki, who has come forward to admit to the remarks, she expressed her skepticism by saying, “I don’t think it’s right that the whole ordeal should come to an end with just one man admitting it.” Such remarks are deemed quite reasonable, as we take into account the nastiness of the latest heckling.
　一方で、鈴木氏以外の発言者が名乗り出ていないことに対しては、「一人だけで終わるというのは違うんじゃないか」と疑問を呈した。ヤジの内容のひどさを考えれば、もっともである。

To resolve the entire issue, it is necessary for other assembly members who made the harassing remarks to take responsibility. They cannot remain hidden any longer.
　問題を収束させるには、ヤジを飛ばした他の都議も自らの発言にけじめをつける必要がある。これ以上、頬かぶりは許されまい。

The metropolitan assembly has been flooded with protests. Each assembly member group must make utmost efforts to prevent such controversy from recurring by becoming fully aware that the dignity of the assembly is being tested.
　都議会には抗議が殺到している。議会の品位が問われていることを自覚し、各会派は再発防止に努めなければならない。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, June 24, 2014)