2019年3月30日朝刊
試金石の選挙
Elections to test how far women have advanced into politics
[中文译文]
略
[日文原文]
歴史は夜つくられる。日本と同じように台湾でも、酒の席での密談が政治に欠かせないと思われていた。そんな夜の会合が大きく減ったのは、女性議員が増えて慣習が続けられなくなったからだ。昼間の議論がより重要になったと、２年ほど前に現地で聞いた。
変化をもたらしたのは、比例代表選挙で男女の候補者を同数にするよう義務付けたことだ。女性議員を増やそうと、多くの国が取り入れて来た制度である。日本でも努力義務ながら、候補者を男女均等にするよう求める法律が昨年できた。
法が施行されて初めて迎える大型選挙が、この統一地方選である。昨日告示された道府県議選の候補者のうち、女性は１２.7％で、４年前をわずかに上回った。前へと進んでいる。しかし、そのペースは決して早いとは言えない。
地方政治は子育てや介護など身近な課題を扱う。そんな場に、女性が議員としてなかなか関与できずにきた。地域の話し合いで候補者を選び、議員となれば夜の付き合いが欠かせない。おじさん中心に出来上がった壁が阻んできた。
少し前、女性の政治参加を目指す集会をのぞいた。県議や市議の立候補予定者が全国から着ていた。シングルマザーの苦労を政治に生かしたいと人がいた。学童保育やこども食堂での経験から、立候補を決めた人たちがいた。壁を破ろうとする女性たちである。
歴史はジグザグに進む。後になって、あの時が転換点だったと気づくことがある。この選挙はどうだろう。
[英文译文]
History is made at night. It seems to be the understandign in countries where politicians are known to decide things after dark at secret meetings where alcohol flows.
Japan is one such country. Taiwan used to be another example, but perhaps not anymore.
When I visited Taiwan about two years ago, I head that boozy night-time confabs had become far less frequent after the number of female lawmakers grew, rendering it difficult to keep up this tradition.
As a result, daytime discussions became much more important for political decision-making.
This transformation owes to a requirement to field the same number of men and women in proportional representation elections.
Many countries have adopted this system to bring more women into politics.
Japan last year introduced a law calling on political parties to field equal numbers of male and female candidates, although no penalties are imposed on those that fial to live up to it.
This law will face its first real test in unifies local elections to be held soon.
In prefectural assembly elections, campaigning for which kicked off on March 29, women make up 12.7% of candidates, up slightly from four years ago.
It is a step in the right direction, but progress is still way too slow.
In local politics, focal issues have closely to do with people's day-to-day lives, such as parenting and nursing care.
And yet, women have been unable to play roles as members of local assemblies. Candidates are selected through negotiations of local officials. Women who win seats are expected to attend night-time gatherings.
The "wall" of the boys' club, designed by and for middle-aged and older men, has prevented women from engaging in local politics.
A short while ago, I sat in a meeting to promote women's political participation. It was attended by prospective candidates in prefectural and municipal assembly elections around the nation.
One participant voiced her hope to bring to politics her hard-won experiences as a single parent. Others said they decided to run after working at after-school childcare centers and meal service facilities for needy children.
Those women are trying to break down the "wall."
History moves forward with twists and turns. We often recognize critical turning points only in retrospect. I wonder if the upcoming unified local elections will turn out to be as such.