野田佳彦氏が新総理 [野田佳彦内閣]
まさに想定外の結果となった。
大方の予想を覆して、野田佳彦氏が次の首相に決まったのだ。
先に行われた民主党代表選では、小沢派の支持を受けた海江田万里氏が有力と見られていて、海江田(親小沢)対前原(脱小沢)の戦いと見られていた。
ところが、第一回投票で野田氏に予想を上回る票が入り、前原氏を抜いて何と第２位に躍り出た。それとは対照的に海江田氏は思ったほど票は伸びなかった。
結局、代表選は歴史的な「大逆転」で幕を閉じた。この大逆転の裏側にある民主党が抱えている大きな問題は一体何なのか。野田氏はこの国難を乗り切れるのか。
米紙ワシントン・ポストが社説で野田総理誕生のことを取り上げています。
まず冒頭で次のように述べている。
HAD JAPANESE VOTERS had a say, their new prime minister would be former foreign minister Seiji Maehara. In a recent poll, Mr. Maehara scored 40 percent — the only one of five candidates to rank in double digits. The runner-ups in the survey were tied at 5 percent.
「もし日本の有権者が投票したら、新総理には４０パーセントの支持率を獲得していた前原誠司前外務大が選ばれていただろう。前原氏は５人の候補者の中で、ただ１人２桁台の支持率を獲得していて、他の４人いずれも５パーセントだった。」
※ HAD JAPANESE VOTERS had a sayは仮定法で、If Japanese voters had had a sayの倒置文。
But the next prime minister was chosen by 398 ruling-party legislators. And they went for someone who polled even below the 5 percenters, finance minister Yoshihiko Noda. Mr. Noda, as The Post’s Chico Harlan reports, campaigned by comparing himself to a loach, an ugly bottom-feeding fish.
“My looks are not great,” Mr. Noda said. “If elected, I wouldn’t have a great support rate.”
「しかし、次期総理大臣は３９８人の民主党国会議員によって選ばれ、国民世論の支持率が５パーセントにも満たない人物ー野田佳彦財務大臣が選出された。野田氏はChico Harlan のレポートにあるように、自分を川底にいる醜い魚ードジョウに例え、「ルックスはこの通りです。私が総理になっても支持率はすぐには上がらないと思います。」と代表選で述べた。」
※ loachは「ドジョウ」、an ugly bottom-feeding fishはドジョウのことを具体的に述べたもの
そのあとは次のような内容となっている。
「度重なる政治空白、大震災による被害、２０年にわたる景気の低迷、膨れ上がる赤字国債など、数多くの難問を抱えている日本は今まさに、強力なリーダーシップが求められている。
野田新総理の第一の務めは、鳩山由紀夫、菅直人と２代続いたような短命政権に陥らないようにすることだ。」
今回の代表選については次のように書いている。
「今回の代表選の結果は、民主党にとって決して喜ばしいものではない。というのは、代表選の争点は政策やリーダーシップ能力ではなくて、親小沢か脱小沢かが争点となり、党内の亀裂が表面化てしまった。前原氏は支持率が最も高かった候補者だったが、脱小沢を掲げたため、落選した。しかし、親小沢の海江田氏も思ったほどの票を獲得できなかった。」
最後に次のような内容で記事を終えている。
Japan remains the world’s third-largest economy and America’s most important ally in Asia. Its political paralysis has implications well beyond the island nation of 126 million people. So we hope Mr. Noda can prove the pessimists wrong and slow the leadership merry-go-round. Congratulations to the loach, in other words; long may he rule.
「日本は世界第３位の経済大国であり、そしてアジアにおけるアメリカの最重要同盟国でもある。日本の政治が停滞すれば、１億２千６百万人の人口を抱える島国、日本だけでなく、日本以外の諸外国にも大きな影響を与えることになる。我々は、野田新総理が、悲観論者たちの言うことが間違っていると証明し、短命政権を遅らせることが出来ると期待している。
おめでとう、ドジョウ。首相在任が長くなることを望む」
※the leadership merry-go-roundとは「短命政権」のこと
revolving door of leadershipともいう
「英文記事」
Japanese politicians anoint a new prime minister, again
HAD JAPANESE VOTERS had a say, their new prime minister would be former foreign minister Seiji Maehara. In a recent poll, Mr. Maehara scored 40 percent — the only one of five candidates to rank in double digits. The runner-ups in the survey were tied at 5 percent.
But the next prime minister was chosen by 398 ruling-party legislators. And they went for someone who polled even below the 5 percenters, finance minister Yoshihiko Noda. Mr. Noda, as The Post’s Chico Harlan reports, campaigned by comparing himself to a loach, an ugly bottom-feeding fish.
“My looks are not great,” Mr. Noda said. “If elected, I wouldn’t have a great support rate.”
Given the disdain in which most Japanese hold both the ruling and opposition parties (with 18 percent and 15 percent approval ratings, respectively) and most of their leaders, that was an odd thing to boast about. But it’s one campaign promise that, if recent history is prologue, seems likely to be fulfilled.
Mr. Noda will take office at a time of perpetual crisis in Japanese politics. Reeling from a massive earthquake in March, an economy that has been underperforming for two decades and a fiscal debt that dwarfs America’s as a share of the national economy, Japan badly needs strong leadership. But Mr. Noda will be the sixth prime minister in five years. One primary task will be simply to avoid the one-year-and-out fate of his ineffectual predecessors.
The circumstances of his election don’t bode well. The contest hinged not on issues or leadership ability but on internal feuding involving Japan’s longtime power broker, Ichiro Ozawa, who is under indictment in a fundraising scandal but retains the loyalty of the largest faction of ruling-party legislators. Mr. Maehara, the most popular candidate, refused to buckle to Mr. Ozawa and so proved unelectable. Mr. Noda was not the boss’s first choice, either, but he was less noxious to Mr. Ozawa and squeaked in when Mr. Ozawa couldn’t muster sufficient votes for his own favorite.
To the extent that Mr. Noda has a policy record, it is as a somewhat nationalistic (his victory has set off alarms in South Korea and China) fiscal hawk who will favor an increase in the consumption tax to help pay for earthquake rebuilding and debt reduction. This is a position favored by some economists, who say that Japan simply can’t afford to keep borrowing. But it also could sharpen the contradictions within Japan’s economy, which is already export-addicted and consumption-averse. The merits of the argument may prove irrelevant, since Mr. Noda may not be able to unite his party behind a clear platform, much less steer it through the upper house of parliament, which the opposition Liberal Democrats control.
Japan remains the world’s third-largest economy and America’s most important ally in Asia. Its political paralysis has implications well beyond the island nation of 126 million people. So we hope Mr. Noda can prove the pessimists wrong and slow the leadership merry-go-round. Congratulations to the loach, in other words; long may he rule.
(The Washington Post By Editorial 2011/08/30)
大方の予想を覆して、野田佳彦氏が次の首相に決まったのだ。
先に行われた民主党代表選では、小沢派の支持を受けた海江田万里氏が有力と見られていて、海江田(親小沢)対前原(脱小沢)の戦いと見られていた。
ところが、第一回投票で野田氏に予想を上回る票が入り、前原氏を抜いて何と第２位に躍り出た。それとは対照的に海江田氏は思ったほど票は伸びなかった。
結局、代表選は歴史的な「大逆転」で幕を閉じた。この大逆転の裏側にある民主党が抱えている大きな問題は一体何なのか。野田氏はこの国難を乗り切れるのか。
米紙ワシントン・ポストが社説で野田総理誕生のことを取り上げています。
まず冒頭で次のように述べている。
HAD JAPANESE VOTERS had a say, their new prime minister would be former foreign minister Seiji Maehara. In a recent poll, Mr. Maehara scored 40 percent — the only one of five candidates to rank in double digits. The runner-ups in the survey were tied at 5 percent.
「もし日本の有権者が投票したら、新総理には４０パーセントの支持率を獲得していた前原誠司前外務大が選ばれていただろう。前原氏は５人の候補者の中で、ただ１人２桁台の支持率を獲得していて、他の４人いずれも５パーセントだった。」
※ HAD JAPANESE VOTERS had a sayは仮定法で、If Japanese voters had had a sayの倒置文。
But the next prime minister was chosen by 398 ruling-party legislators. And they went for someone who polled even below the 5 percenters, finance minister Yoshihiko Noda. Mr. Noda, as The Post’s Chico Harlan reports, campaigned by comparing himself to a loach, an ugly bottom-feeding fish.
“My looks are not great,” Mr. Noda said. “If elected, I wouldn’t have a great support rate.”
「しかし、次期総理大臣は３９８人の民主党国会議員によって選ばれ、国民世論の支持率が５パーセントにも満たない人物ー野田佳彦財務大臣が選出された。野田氏はChico Harlan のレポートにあるように、自分を川底にいる醜い魚ードジョウに例え、「ルックスはこの通りです。私が総理になっても支持率はすぐには上がらないと思います。」と代表選で述べた。」
※ loachは「ドジョウ」、an ugly bottom-feeding fishはドジョウのことを具体的に述べたもの
そのあとは次のような内容となっている。
「度重なる政治空白、大震災による被害、２０年にわたる景気の低迷、膨れ上がる赤字国債など、数多くの難問を抱えている日本は今まさに、強力なリーダーシップが求められている。
野田新総理の第一の務めは、鳩山由紀夫、菅直人と２代続いたような短命政権に陥らないようにすることだ。」
今回の代表選については次のように書いている。
「今回の代表選の結果は、民主党にとって決して喜ばしいものではない。というのは、代表選の争点は政策やリーダーシップ能力ではなくて、親小沢か脱小沢かが争点となり、党内の亀裂が表面化てしまった。前原氏は支持率が最も高かった候補者だったが、脱小沢を掲げたため、落選した。しかし、親小沢の海江田氏も思ったほどの票を獲得できなかった。」
最後に次のような内容で記事を終えている。
Japan remains the world’s third-largest economy and America’s most important ally in Asia. Its political paralysis has implications well beyond the island nation of 126 million people. So we hope Mr. Noda can prove the pessimists wrong and slow the leadership merry-go-round. Congratulations to the loach, in other words; long may he rule.
「日本は世界第３位の経済大国であり、そしてアジアにおけるアメリカの最重要同盟国でもある。日本の政治が停滞すれば、１億２千６百万人の人口を抱える島国、日本だけでなく、日本以外の諸外国にも大きな影響を与えることになる。我々は、野田新総理が、悲観論者たちの言うことが間違っていると証明し、短命政権を遅らせることが出来ると期待している。
おめでとう、ドジョウ。首相在任が長くなることを望む」
※the leadership merry-go-roundとは「短命政権」のこと
revolving door of leadershipともいう
「英文記事」
Japanese politicians anoint a new prime minister, again
HAD JAPANESE VOTERS had a say, their new prime minister would be former foreign minister Seiji Maehara. In a recent poll, Mr. Maehara scored 40 percent — the only one of five candidates to rank in double digits. The runner-ups in the survey were tied at 5 percent.
But the next prime minister was chosen by 398 ruling-party legislators. And they went for someone who polled even below the 5 percenters, finance minister Yoshihiko Noda. Mr. Noda, as The Post’s Chico Harlan reports, campaigned by comparing himself to a loach, an ugly bottom-feeding fish.
“My looks are not great,” Mr. Noda said. “If elected, I wouldn’t have a great support rate.”
Given the disdain in which most Japanese hold both the ruling and opposition parties (with 18 percent and 15 percent approval ratings, respectively) and most of their leaders, that was an odd thing to boast about. But it’s one campaign promise that, if recent history is prologue, seems likely to be fulfilled.
Mr. Noda will take office at a time of perpetual crisis in Japanese politics. Reeling from a massive earthquake in March, an economy that has been underperforming for two decades and a fiscal debt that dwarfs America’s as a share of the national economy, Japan badly needs strong leadership. But Mr. Noda will be the sixth prime minister in five years. One primary task will be simply to avoid the one-year-and-out fate of his ineffectual predecessors.
The circumstances of his election don’t bode well. The contest hinged not on issues or leadership ability but on internal feuding involving Japan’s longtime power broker, Ichiro Ozawa, who is under indictment in a fundraising scandal but retains the loyalty of the largest faction of ruling-party legislators. Mr. Maehara, the most popular candidate, refused to buckle to Mr. Ozawa and so proved unelectable. Mr. Noda was not the boss’s first choice, either, but he was less noxious to Mr. Ozawa and squeaked in when Mr. Ozawa couldn’t muster sufficient votes for his own favorite.
To the extent that Mr. Noda has a policy record, it is as a somewhat nationalistic (his victory has set off alarms in South Korea and China) fiscal hawk who will favor an increase in the consumption tax to help pay for earthquake rebuilding and debt reduction. This is a position favored by some economists, who say that Japan simply can’t afford to keep borrowing. But it also could sharpen the contradictions within Japan’s economy, which is already export-addicted and consumption-averse. The merits of the argument may prove irrelevant, since Mr. Noda may not be able to unite his party behind a clear platform, much less steer it through the upper house of parliament, which the opposition Liberal Democrats control.
Japan remains the world’s third-largest economy and America’s most important ally in Asia. Its political paralysis has implications well beyond the island nation of 126 million people. So we hope Mr. Noda can prove the pessimists wrong and slow the leadership merry-go-round. Congratulations to the loach, in other words; long may he rule.
(The Washington Post By Editorial 2011/08/30)
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