海江田民主党 甘い総括で再建できるのか

The Yomiuri Shimbun
Ineffectual Kaieda remains in charge of DPJ thanks to disunited opponents
海江田民主党　甘い総括で再建できるのか

It was a tepid assessment devoid of a sense of urgency over faltering party strength. The fact that the party head is allowed to stay in office even under such circumstances graphically reveals the party’s current state of affairs.
　党勢の低迷に対する危機感の薄い、甘い総括だった。これでも党首が続投できるところに、党の現状が示されている。

The Democratic Party of Japan held a meeting on Thursday with most of the party’s Diet members attending to make an overall assessment of the way DPJ President Banri Kaieda ran the largest opposition party in the past year. The evaluation was called for as he remained at the helm of the party after its humiliating defeat in the House of Councillors election last summer by making a commitment to “produce tangible, positive results within one year.”
　民主党が、海江田代表の党運営を総括する両院議員懇談会を開いた。昨夏の参院選惨敗後、海江田氏が「１年後までの目に見える成果」を約束して代表にとどまった経緯を踏まえたものだ。

At the outset of the meeting, Kaieda expressed his intention to stay on in the top post of the DPJ, saying, “Approval ratings for the Abe Cabinet have been on the wane, and what matters most for us is whether our party is able to act effectively in defense of people who feel unease and dissatisfaction.”
　海江田氏は懇談会の冒頭、「安倍政権への支持が小さくなっている。国民の不安や不満の受け皿に民主党がなれるかどうかだ」と語り、続投する考えを表明した。

Regarding the “tangible results” he committed himself to, Kaieda cited such things as his success in having kept party unity intact. But we feel rather skeptical about the wisdom of using such reasons to justify his staying on as party president.
　「目に見える成果」としては、党の結束を維持したことなどを挙げた。だが、それらを理由に続投を正当化するのは、やや無理があるのではないか。

Even though he appears to have been intent on rebuilding the party in the past year, Kaieda has been hardly able to make his presence felt in the political area because of his feeble ability to come out with strong political messages. Party approval ratings have shown public support for the DPJ hovering at less than 10 percent, compared to the 30 percent to 40 percent levels for the Liberal Democratic Party.
　海江田氏はこの１年、党再建に意欲は見せてきたが、発信力に乏しく、存在感は薄かった。政党支持率は、自民党が３０～４０％台なのに対し、民主党は１けた台だ。

In the by-election of the House of Representatives Kagoshima Constituency No. 2 in April, the first contest for a Diet seat after the raising of the consumption tax, the candidate backed by the DPJ was defeated. The triumph of a former DPJ lower house member in the gubernatorial election in the middle of last month in Shiga Prefecture seemed to be attributable mainly to the tactic of keeping the party’s backing as inconspicuous as possible.
　消費増税後初の国政選である４月の衆院鹿児島２区補選では、推薦候補が敗れた。先月中旬の滋賀県知事選で前民主党衆院議員が勝利したのも、「民主党隠し」の戦術が奏功した面がある。

Bleak future prospects

Within the DPJ, such heavyweights as the party’s former Vice President Katsuya Okada demanded publicly that the party’s presidential election, scheduled for September next year, be held earlier, which Kaieda made a point of turning down.
　民主党内では、岡田克也前副総理らが来年９月の代表選を前倒しするよう公然と求めていたが、海江田氏は拒否し続けた。

Party rules of the LDP include “recall provisions” that stipulate holding a presidential election if and when a majority of the party’s Diet members and representatives of its prefectural chapters call for one. The DPJ, however, has no such rule, and so long as Kaieda refuses to hold a party election, there can be no party presidential contest before his term of office expires.
　自民党の党則には、所属国会議員と都道府県連代表の過半数が求めれば総裁選を行える「リコール規定」がある。だが、民主党の規約にこうした規定はないため、海江田氏が応じない限り、任期途中の代表選はできない。

Among the factors behind Kaieda’s strong attitude is apparently the fact that those DPJ lawmakers who oppose his leadership are in disarray over who should succeed him, so that moves to oust Kaieda from the top party post have failed to gain impetus.
　海江田氏の強気な姿勢の背景には、反執行部系議員が新代表候補などを巡って足並みがそろわず、「海江田おろし」が広がりを欠いているという事情もある。

The DPJ’s future prospects, however, remain bleak. The rift has been deep between the Kaieda leadership, which has been eager to strengthen ties to trade unions, and conservative members who wish to see the DPJ break its dependence on unions.
　ただ、民主党の前途は依然として、厳しい。労働組合との関係強化を掲げる海江田執行部と、「労組頼み」脱却を求める保守系議員との対立は根深い。

Kaieda is poised to reshuffle the lineup of party executives as early as September, and it is likely that he will have hard time trying to build party unity as anti-Kaieda sentiment continues to smolder.
　海江田氏は９月にも党役員を刷新する考えだが、海江田氏に対する批判がくすぶる中、挙党態勢を築くのは簡単ではあるまい。

The party has said its task of formulating a set of policies geared for unified local elections next spring will soon be in full swing. Although the party says it will make a review of the DPJ electoral platform for the 2009 general election, which comprised many unrealistic and pandering handout policies, before the end of the year, the pace of such review seems to have been extremely slow.
　来春の統一地方選に向けた政策作りも近く本格化する。バラマキ政策が目立つ２００９年衆院選政権公約を年内に見直すというが、あまりに作業が遅すぎないか。

The DPJ has also continued shelving discussions within the party on pros and cons concerning the exercise of Japan’s right of collective self-defense.
　集団的自衛権の行使の是非に関しても、議論を棚上げしている。

So long as it fails to put an end to its propensity to postpone conclusions on key issues merely to prevent a split in the party, the DPJ will be unable to fulfill its responsibility as the No. 1 opposition party and will have no prospects for regaining strength.
党の亀裂回避を優先し、結論を先送りする体質を変えなければ、野党第１党の責任を果たせず、党勢回復もおぼつかない。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Aug. 1, 2014)