死に体(レームダック)の菅内閣ー後編 [政治]
菅直人総理、内閣不信任決議案を否決するー後編
内閣不信任決議案に反対票を投じて、自分の席に戻る菅直人首相
「後編」
「第２次補正予算案は総額で何百億ドルになると見込まれているが、原発事故の発生、２万４千人以上もの人が亡くなったり、行方不明になったり、何百マイルにもわたって海岸地帯が膨大な量のがれきの山が散乱しているため、人が住めなくなるなどの被害を出した３月１１日の大震災から完全に復興するためには、少なくとも２５億兆ドルもの財源が必要となると経済専門家たちは見ている。
今回の多重大災害のショックを契機にして、２０年にもわたる経済不況から脱する糸口を見つけるきっかけが出来るのではないかという期待感があったが、有権者は日本のリーダーシップにはますます失望感を抱いてきているようである。
政府の原発事故対応のまずさや何万人もの住宅を失った人々のための仮設住宅の建設の遅れなどから、特に菅総理は国民から厳しい批判を浴びている。さらには福島第一原発から放出している放射性物質の危険性について政府は正確な情報を国民に伝えていないとの声も上がっている。
しかし今回の内閣不信任決議案をめぐる政治的策略には国民が不快感を覚えた。東京都心では、有権者は失望感を覚え、この国難に直面しているときに与党も野党もつまらない政治闘争に明け暮れていることにうんざりしている。
「確かに菅総理は弱いリーダーだが、だからといって政治ゲームをしている場合ではない。東北地方では非常に多くの人が大震災の被害にあって苦しんでいるのにこんなことをするなんて無責任だ」と話すのは東京の混雑している渋谷駅での通勤者ー石原はるみさん。
石原さんは野党の自民党も、大震災からの復興のさなかに菅総理を弱体化させようとして政治空白を生じさせた責任があるという多くの有権者の意見に賛成だった。新聞報道も、小沢一郎の政治手法に非常に厳しい見方をしていた。多くの有権者はスキャンダルに塗れた政治家ー小沢氏は、小沢氏と彼の支持者たちを民主党現内閣から排除した菅総理に政治的な復讐を果たそうとしたと見ている。
新聞の社説では、菅首相と自民党の谷垣禎一総裁の両氏に対して、政治的行き詰まりを生じさせたとして厳しい批判を展開している。「こうした国会での政治的駆け引きはまさにジョークであり、うんざりする」と朝日新聞は最近の社説で述べている。
菅総理に敵対していた多くの民主党議員は、人気のない菅総理の下では、将来の自分の選挙に不利になるのではないかと考えて、そういう行動に出たのだという。
「今は政治を停滞させるときではない。党内情勢は非常に厳しい。」と国会内で語るのは鳩山由起夫前総理と小沢派の議員たちである。
菅総理の辞任表明によって造反は一応収まったかに見え、鳩山由起夫氏と反菅派の他の民主党議員達は内閣不信任決議案に反対に回ることになった。小沢氏は採決を棄権した。」
前編記事
Japan Prime Minister Survives No-Confidence Vote
By MARTIN FACKLER
TOKYO — Prime Minister Naoto Kan survived a bruising no-confidence vote in Parliament on Thursday, but only after promising to resign once his government made progress in overcoming the nuclear crisis and the devastating earthquake and tsunami that caused it.
The offer to resign appeared to be aimed at avoiding a destructive split in his governing Democratic Party, where there has been rising discontent with what many call Mr. Kan’s plodding and indecisive response to the triple disaster. But the move also turns Mr. Kan into essentially a lame duck even as he must still guide his nation out of its most deadly catastrophe since World War II.
It also appears almost certain to prolong the political paralysis that has gripped Japan for years. If he leaves office before the end of summer, Mr. Kan will be the sixth prime minister to resign in five years.
Mr. Kan won the vote on Thursday in the 480-seat lower house by a comfortable margin of 293 to 152, after offering to resign to keep his party intact and prevent power from reverting to the opposition Liberal Democratic Party.
“I want the younger generation to take over my responsibilities once I fulfill my duty,” Mr. Kan told Parliament, signaling his intention to quit in the often oblique language of Japanese politics. “I will not destroy this Democratic Party.”
In the buildup to the vote, sponsored by the Liberal Democrats, the prime minister faced the threat of mass defections by lawmakers loyal to his own party’s disgruntled former kingmaker, Ichiro Ozawa. While it was unclear if the defections would have been enough to turn the no-confidence vote, Mr. Ozawa was also making noises about possibly splitting off to form a new party.
Mr. Kan left unclear when he would actually step down. At a news conference, he seemed to hint that he wanted to stay in office until the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant was brought under control, which might take until early next year. However, some members of his party called for him to do so after the expected passage in the summer of a supplementary budget with additional funds for reconstruction.
While that budget is likely to total in the tens of billions of dollars, economists say it could cost at least a quarter of a trillion dollars to fully rebuild from the March 11 disaster, which left the country with the nuclear crisis, more than 24,000 people dead or missing and hundreds of miles of the coastline rendered uninhabitable by vast masses of tangled debris.
There had been hopes in Japan that the shock of the multiple disasters could motivate the nation to finally find a way out of a two-decade period of economic and social stagnation. However, voters appear to be increasingly disappointed with their national leadership.
In particular, Mr. Kan has come under intense public criticism for his government’s apparently clumsy handling of the nuclear crisis and delays in building temporary housing for the tens of thousands still homeless. His government has also suffered from the perception that it has not been forthcoming about the risks from the radioactive material that continues to spew from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.
However, the public was also put off by the political maneuvering that brought about the no-confidence vote. On the streets of Tokyo, voters expressed disappointment and disgust with lawmakers on both sides for engaging in what they called petty political struggles when the country’s needs were so urgent.
“Sure, Prime Minister Kan is a weak leader, but this is not the time for such political games,” said Harumi Ishihara, 55, a commuter in Tokyo’s crowded Shibuya train station. “It’s irresponsible to do this when so many people are suffering in the northeast.”
Ms. Ishihara echoed the view of many voters here that the opposition Liberal Democrats bore equal blame for the political paralysis, for trying to weaken Mr. Kan when the focus should be on rebuilding. Local media coverage has also been harsh in its coverage of the role of Mr. Ozawa, a scandal-tainted political operator whom many here see as trying to extract political revenge for Mr. Kan’s exclusion of Mr. Ozawa and many of his supporters from the current cabinet.
Newspaper editorials blamed both Mr. Kan and the Liberal Democratic leader, Sadakazu Tanigaki, for the political impasse. “These parliamentary maneuvers are a joke and sickening,” the daily newspaper Asahi Shimbun said in a recent editorial.
Many of the Democrats who turned against Mr. Kan said they did so for fear that the unpopular prime minister could become a liability in future elections.
“This is not a time for stagnation,” Yukio Hatoyama, a former prime minister and ally of Mr. Ozawa, said in Parliament. “The atmosphere inside the party is very grim.”
Apparently appeased by Mr. Kan’s offer to resign, Mr. Hatoyama and other Democratic critics of Mr. Kan ended up voting against the no-confidence measure. Mr. Ozawa abstained from the vote.
(The New York Times 2011/06/02)
内閣不信任決議案に反対票を投じて、自分の席に戻る菅直人首相
「後編」
「第２次補正予算案は総額で何百億ドルになると見込まれているが、原発事故の発生、２万４千人以上もの人が亡くなったり、行方不明になったり、何百マイルにもわたって海岸地帯が膨大な量のがれきの山が散乱しているため、人が住めなくなるなどの被害を出した３月１１日の大震災から完全に復興するためには、少なくとも２５億兆ドルもの財源が必要となると経済専門家たちは見ている。
今回の多重大災害のショックを契機にして、２０年にもわたる経済不況から脱する糸口を見つけるきっかけが出来るのではないかという期待感があったが、有権者は日本のリーダーシップにはますます失望感を抱いてきているようである。
政府の原発事故対応のまずさや何万人もの住宅を失った人々のための仮設住宅の建設の遅れなどから、特に菅総理は国民から厳しい批判を浴びている。さらには福島第一原発から放出している放射性物質の危険性について政府は正確な情報を国民に伝えていないとの声も上がっている。
しかし今回の内閣不信任決議案をめぐる政治的策略には国民が不快感を覚えた。東京都心では、有権者は失望感を覚え、この国難に直面しているときに与党も野党もつまらない政治闘争に明け暮れていることにうんざりしている。
「確かに菅総理は弱いリーダーだが、だからといって政治ゲームをしている場合ではない。東北地方では非常に多くの人が大震災の被害にあって苦しんでいるのにこんなことをするなんて無責任だ」と話すのは東京の混雑している渋谷駅での通勤者ー石原はるみさん。
石原さんは野党の自民党も、大震災からの復興のさなかに菅総理を弱体化させようとして政治空白を生じさせた責任があるという多くの有権者の意見に賛成だった。新聞報道も、小沢一郎の政治手法に非常に厳しい見方をしていた。多くの有権者はスキャンダルに塗れた政治家ー小沢氏は、小沢氏と彼の支持者たちを民主党現内閣から排除した菅総理に政治的な復讐を果たそうとしたと見ている。
新聞の社説では、菅首相と自民党の谷垣禎一総裁の両氏に対して、政治的行き詰まりを生じさせたとして厳しい批判を展開している。「こうした国会での政治的駆け引きはまさにジョークであり、うんざりする」と朝日新聞は最近の社説で述べている。
菅総理に敵対していた多くの民主党議員は、人気のない菅総理の下では、将来の自分の選挙に不利になるのではないかと考えて、そういう行動に出たのだという。
「今は政治を停滞させるときではない。党内情勢は非常に厳しい。」と国会内で語るのは鳩山由起夫前総理と小沢派の議員たちである。
菅総理の辞任表明によって造反は一応収まったかに見え、鳩山由起夫氏と反菅派の他の民主党議員達は内閣不信任決議案に反対に回ることになった。小沢氏は採決を棄権した。」
前編記事
Japan Prime Minister Survives No-Confidence Vote
By MARTIN FACKLER
TOKYO — Prime Minister Naoto Kan survived a bruising no-confidence vote in Parliament on Thursday, but only after promising to resign once his government made progress in overcoming the nuclear crisis and the devastating earthquake and tsunami that caused it.
The offer to resign appeared to be aimed at avoiding a destructive split in his governing Democratic Party, where there has been rising discontent with what many call Mr. Kan’s plodding and indecisive response to the triple disaster. But the move also turns Mr. Kan into essentially a lame duck even as he must still guide his nation out of its most deadly catastrophe since World War II.
It also appears almost certain to prolong the political paralysis that has gripped Japan for years. If he leaves office before the end of summer, Mr. Kan will be the sixth prime minister to resign in five years.
Mr. Kan won the vote on Thursday in the 480-seat lower house by a comfortable margin of 293 to 152, after offering to resign to keep his party intact and prevent power from reverting to the opposition Liberal Democratic Party.
“I want the younger generation to take over my responsibilities once I fulfill my duty,” Mr. Kan told Parliament, signaling his intention to quit in the often oblique language of Japanese politics. “I will not destroy this Democratic Party.”
In the buildup to the vote, sponsored by the Liberal Democrats, the prime minister faced the threat of mass defections by lawmakers loyal to his own party’s disgruntled former kingmaker, Ichiro Ozawa. While it was unclear if the defections would have been enough to turn the no-confidence vote, Mr. Ozawa was also making noises about possibly splitting off to form a new party.
Mr. Kan left unclear when he would actually step down. At a news conference, he seemed to hint that he wanted to stay in office until the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant was brought under control, which might take until early next year. However, some members of his party called for him to do so after the expected passage in the summer of a supplementary budget with additional funds for reconstruction.
While that budget is likely to total in the tens of billions of dollars, economists say it could cost at least a quarter of a trillion dollars to fully rebuild from the March 11 disaster, which left the country with the nuclear crisis, more than 24,000 people dead or missing and hundreds of miles of the coastline rendered uninhabitable by vast masses of tangled debris.
There had been hopes in Japan that the shock of the multiple disasters could motivate the nation to finally find a way out of a two-decade period of economic and social stagnation. However, voters appear to be increasingly disappointed with their national leadership.
In particular, Mr. Kan has come under intense public criticism for his government’s apparently clumsy handling of the nuclear crisis and delays in building temporary housing for the tens of thousands still homeless. His government has also suffered from the perception that it has not been forthcoming about the risks from the radioactive material that continues to spew from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.
However, the public was also put off by the political maneuvering that brought about the no-confidence vote. On the streets of Tokyo, voters expressed disappointment and disgust with lawmakers on both sides for engaging in what they called petty political struggles when the country’s needs were so urgent.
“Sure, Prime Minister Kan is a weak leader, but this is not the time for such political games,” said Harumi Ishihara, 55, a commuter in Tokyo’s crowded Shibuya train station. “It’s irresponsible to do this when so many people are suffering in the northeast.”
Ms. Ishihara echoed the view of many voters here that the opposition Liberal Democrats bore equal blame for the political paralysis, for trying to weaken Mr. Kan when the focus should be on rebuilding. Local media coverage has also been harsh in its coverage of the role of Mr. Ozawa, a scandal-tainted political operator whom many here see as trying to extract political revenge for Mr. Kan’s exclusion of Mr. Ozawa and many of his supporters from the current cabinet.
Newspaper editorials blamed both Mr. Kan and the Liberal Democratic leader, Sadakazu Tanigaki, for the political impasse. “These parliamentary maneuvers are a joke and sickening,” the daily newspaper Asahi Shimbun said in a recent editorial.
Many of the Democrats who turned against Mr. Kan said they did so for fear that the unpopular prime minister could become a liability in future elections.
“This is not a time for stagnation,” Yukio Hatoyama, a former prime minister and ally of Mr. Ozawa, said in Parliament. “The atmosphere inside the party is very grim.”
Apparently appeased by Mr. Kan’s offer to resign, Mr. Hatoyama and other Democratic critics of Mr. Kan ended up voting against the no-confidence measure. Mr. Ozawa abstained from the vote.
(The New York Times 2011/06/02)
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