メンバーは課題を金曜までに読んで、ノートにも写して「質問を１つ」考えてきて下さい。
今週は「突然の解散総選挙」から。
政治用語はテレビなどで聞いて育ちますが、英語になると聞く機会も少ないですね。
（日本語全訳が欲しい方は [email protected]、Kazueまで）
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe calls snap election
call an election 選挙の実施を決める
stem from... 〜から生じる
mandate 命令、権限、有権者の意思
accord 合意、協定、一致
stipulate 規定する、明記する
pension 年金
decisively 決定的に、断固として
social security 社会保障
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Monday announced he will dissolve the House of Representatives at the beginning of the extraordinary Diet session to be convened on Sept. 28.
The general election will be held on Oct. 22, with official campaigning starting on Oct. 10.
“I will dissolve the House of Representatives on Sept. 28,” Abe said at a press conference on Monday evening at the Prime Minister’s Office.
Abe said he is calling the snap election because he intends to change the allocation of the increased revenues stemming from a planned hike in the consumption tax rate from 8 percent to 10 percent in October 2019.
“As long as I am changing[the government’s] promise to the people and making a significant decision regarding their lives, I determined to swiftly seek the public’s mandate,” Abe noted.
The 2012 accord among the then ruling Democratic Party of Japan (now the Democratic Party), the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito stipulates that about 20 percent of the increased revenues from the consumption tax hike will be used for social security services, while the rest will be for debt repayment and contribution to the state pension program.
Abe wants to “decisively change” the system so that the increased portion will be appropriated for investment in helping child-rearing generations and the stabilization of social security programs, he stressed.
（JAPAN NEWSより）
