Japanese Trade Union Confederation (RENGO)

Resignation of Hatoyama Cabinet en Block and Election of New Prime Minister Naoto Kan

1. The Hatoyama cabinet resigned en block on June 4. At the election of the president of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) on the same day, Mr. Naoto Kan, a member of the House of Representatives of the DPJ who strongly appealed that he would rebuild this country as prime minister was elected as new president of the DPJ. Thereafter at the plenary sessions of both the House of Representatives and the House of Councilors, nomination of prime minister was made and the new president of the DPJ was elected as the 94th Prime Minister of Japan. RENGO hopes that the new government will sincerely respond to severe voices of the people on such issues as “politics and money” and the relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps Futemma Air Station, Okinawa and will display concerted leadership of the parties in government in order to regain people's trust in politics.
   
   
2. New Prime Minister Naoto Kan shows his intention to inherit the major policy line of his predecessor Mr. Yukio Hatoyama on such issues as increasing “regional sovereignty” i.e. giving regions or prefectures more power, a new concept of public service, an East Asian Community, and measures against global warming. The government is now working on “a new growth strategy, a financial management strategy and a regional sovereignty strategy . RENGO welcomes the new big-boned picture of the country being made clear before the eyes of the people together with the DPJ's manifesto for the coming 22nd election of the House of Councilors in July this year.
   
   
3. Since the change of power in the summer of last year, reforms which former governments had not dared to attempt have just begun to take shape in such fields as breaking-off of triangular collusion between politicians, bureaucrats and business leaders, scrutinization of budget requests and projects of nonprofit public service corporate bodies that receive tax money so as to eliminate wasteful spending of tax money by the administrations and to exclude special-interest politicians, and increasing transparency in the process of the budget compilations and in its decision-making. If the reforms are stopped to go forward, every effort made for the change of power will vanish in the air and the life of the people will further be thrown into confusion with the history going backward.
   
   
4. In prospect of realizing a hopeful and secure society, RENGO is now working hard under slogans - “it is now the time to hold out; never return to the invisible politics!” and “RENGO will take actions for realizing politics for the working people”. For that purpose, RENGO will strive for a certain victory of all the candidates from RENGO organization for proportional representation constituencies and that of those candidates recommended by RENGO at the coming election of the members of the House of Councilors, putting all the energies of 6.8 million membership en masse at the workplaces and in the regions even in the midst of severe conditions.