Koike, Edano seek labor union support for their new parties

October 6, 2017

TOKYO- The heads of two newly-formed political parties in Japan, Yuriko Koike and Yukio Edano, on Friday asked for support for their parties from the country's largest umbrella body for labor unions ahead of the Oct. 22 general election.

Koike, governor of Tokyo who leads the Party of Hope, and Edano, head of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, separately held talks with Rikio Kozu, president of the labor group, the Japanese Trade Union Confederation, or Rengo.

"The election is just around the corner," Koike told reporters following the meeting, which was joined by Seiji Maehara, president of the Democratic Party.

Koike expressed her intention to work with Maehara in the House of Representatives election. The DP leader showed confidence ahead of the poll.

Rengo, with its total membership exceeding 6.8 million across the country, has been the greatest supporter of the DP, which was the largest opposition party when the Lower House was dissolved on Sept. 28 for the snap election.

The DP has since been basically separated into those who will run in the election on the Party of Hope ticket and others joining the party led by Edano, former DP deputy president. Rengo plans not to back a particular party but support individual candidates.

In the election, Maehara and some other DP members plan to run as independent candidates. Jiji Press