橋下代表は日本の政治制度を変えられるか?

[From July Issue 2012]

 

Now, a big movement from Osaka, that advocates completely overhauling the Japanese political system, is underway. Standing at the vanguard as the head of the Osaka Restoration Association, is HASHIMOTO Toru, the mayor of Osaka. When he became governor of Osaka Prefecture in 2008, he vigorously carried out administrative reforms to slash the outstanding deficit that Osaka Prefecture had had since 1998, putting the prefecture back in the black in 2009. In order to cut wasteful expenditure caused by the dual administrations of prefectural and municipal bureaucracies in Osaka, in 2011 he resigned his post as governor of Osaka, becoming Osaka city mayor.

By unifying Osaka’s administration under his “Osaka Metropolitan Plan,” Hashimoto aims to make Osaka like Tokyo, and is now promoting the reform of the city. To realize this plan, it’s necessary to revise the law. Judging that he won’t be able to gain support for revising the law from the party currently in power, Hashimoto is grooming more than 200 candidates for the next general election.

Furthermore, Hashimoto is advocating that national referendums be used to vote for prime ministers, and is pressing for other radical reforms to change the stagnant political system. Hashimoto is popular with voters, so that in the early stages, most political parties got on the bandwagon and were favor of the Restoration Association. However, politicians and political parties who view his political reforms as being too radical and aggressive have gradually been distancing themselves from him. There are also people who accuse Hashimoto, who aggressively carries out reform, of being like HITLER.

Conservative governments, with the Liberal Democratic Party generally being in office, have continued to be in power for the 50 years since the Second World War. During this period bureaucrats have held the reigns of political power from behind the scenes and people’s frustration with politics has increased. In the general election three years ago, the Democratic Party of Japan rose to power by advocating administrative reforms aimed at cutting wasteful expenditure on bureaucracy, and providing better benefits to the population. These policies gained them the full support of voters.

However, citizens were disappointed with the DPJ as they did not vigorously pursue these reforms. Spearheaded by Hashimoto, the Restoration Association, which advocates genuine reforms, has appeared on the scene, and citizens are expecting great things from him. He has a strong belief that Japanese politics cannot be altered unless political systems are changed. He has proposed that the prime minister is not chosen by Diet members, but is directly elected by citizens.

How is the Japanese Prime Minister Currently Elected?

Having two legislative houses, the Japanese Diet is modeled on Great Britain’s system of government. The total number of members of the House of Representatives is 480. Three hundred of these are selected from 300 constituencies (one from each constituency). One hundred and eighty are selected from each party’s list of candidates by a system of proportional representation (people vote for a party in 11 separate constituencies). One term is four years, but if the prime minister dissolves parliament during that term, members lose their seats and an election is called.

The membership of the House of Councilors is fixed at 242. Divided up into prefectures, 146 members are selected from each constituency. Ninety six are selected by the whole country through a system of proportional representation. Their term of office is six years, but half of them are re-elected every three years. The minimum age of candidates for the House of Representatives is 25, and for the House of Councilors, 30. The voting age is over 20.

The Japanese prime minister is elected by the members of the Diet and is usually the most influential man in the party. If the House of Representatives and the House of Councilors select different candidates in the elections for prime minister, the candidate selected by the House of Representatives becomes prime minister.

[2012年7月号掲載記事]

 

今、日本の政治を根底から変えようとする大きなうねりが大阪から起きています。その先頭に立つのが大阪維新の会の代表、橋下徹大阪市長。2008年に大阪府の知事になると、1998年以降続いた大阪府の赤字予算を徹底的な行政改革をはかり2009年以降黒字に導きました。そして、大阪の府と市の二重行政の無駄遣いをなくすため、2011年に大阪知事を辞任し、大阪市長になりました。

橋下市長は大阪を東京と同じように都にして大阪の行政を一本化する「大阪都構想」を打ち出し、今、市の改革を進めています。この構想を進めるには法律の改正が必要となります。橋下市長は現在の政党からは改正の支持が得られないと判断し、総選挙で大阪維新の会から200人以上の候補者を出す準備をしています。

さらに橋下市長は、現在の停滞している政治を変えるには総理大臣の公選制にすべきと唱え、他の根本的な改革も必要と訴えています。各政党は当初、国民から人気のある橋下市長の勢いに乗ろうと大阪維新の会に好意的でした。しかし、改革を過激と受け取る政治家や政党は次第に距離を置き始めました。さらに、強引ともみえる改革を進める橋下市長をヒトラーのようだと批判する人もいます。

日本は戦後の50年以上、自由民主党を中心とする保守政権が続きました。この間は官僚が裏で政治を主導し、国民の政治に対する不満は高まっていました。3年前の選挙で、民主党は官僚の無駄をなくす行政改革、さらに国民に恩恵のある政策を掲げ、政権につきました。これらの政策は選挙民の圧倒的な支持を得ました。

しかし、国民は積極的に改革を進めない民主党に失望しました。そこに本物の改革を掲げる橋下氏が率いる大阪維新の会が登場し、国民は大きな期待を寄せています。橋下市長は、制度が変わらなければ日本の政治は変わらないという強い信念を持っています。そして、総理大臣は国会議員ではなく、国民が直接に選べるようにしようと提案しています。

日本の総理大臣は現在どのように選ばれるのか

日本の国会は二つの議院を持つイギリスをモデルとしています。衆議院議員の定数は480人です。300人は、全国300の選挙区から選ばれます(各選挙区で一人)。180人は、政党別に登録された候補者の上位から順に決まる比例代表制で選ばれます(国民は全国を11に分かれた選挙区で政党への投票を行います)。任期は4年間ですが、任期中に総理大臣が解散を宣言すると、議席は失われ選挙となります。

参議院議員の定員は242人です。146人は各都道府県を1選挙区として選ばれます。96人は、全国を一つの選挙区とした比例代表制で選ばれます。任期は6年ですが、半数は3年ごとに改選されます。衆議院に立候補できるのは25歳ですが、参議員は30歳以上です。選挙年齢は20歳以上です。

日本の総理大臣はこれらの国会議員による選挙で選ばれますが、通常は最も大きな政党の有力者です。衆議院と参議院の総理大臣の選挙で異なる候補者が選ばれた場合には、衆議院で指名された候補者が総理大臣になります。

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