Rengo kicks off 2-day convention, set to urge 2-party politics

October 4, 2017

TOKYO- The Japanese Trade Union Confederation, or Rengo, kicked off a two-day convention on Wednesday, seen setting a goal of establishing a viable two-party political system to defeat Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Liberal Democratic Party.

The goal will be included in Rengo's campaign policy for the two years from fiscal 2018, to be adopted during the 15th biennial convention at the Tokyo International Forum convention center.

On Thursday, the trade union national center is expected to approve another two-year term for its current president, Rikio Kozu, 61.

In a speech on Wednesday, Kozu termed the recent House of Representatives dissolution as Abe's "ultimate selfish" act. But he stressed that the subsequent general election, set for Oct. 22, is a "one-in-a-million opportunity to end the forcible handling of Diet affairs" by Abe's ruling bloc.

Unlike at Rengo's previous conventions, no politicians showed up to attend the convention amid a major realignment of opposition parties ahead of the Lower House poll.

The Democratic Party has split largely into two. Many members will run in the poll with official endorsement by Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike's new party, Kibo no To (Party of Hope), while others will join the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, created by liberal politicians from the DP, including former Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano.

Rengo, which has been the largest supporter of the DP, will not back a specific party in the upcoming election. But it will support individual candidates, mainly current and former DP members.

"There is a common goal (among opposition parties) of putting a period to the single party-dominated politics," the Rengo chief said. Jiji Press