TOKYO, Sept. 23 (Xinhua) -- Four of Japan's opposition parties agreed on Friday to collaborate in the next lower house election, debates in parliament and in a push to show a united front to the ruling Liberal Democratic Party of Japan-led bloc, headed by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
The leaders of the Democratic, Japanese Communist, People's Life and Social Democratic parties convened for the first time since Democratic Party leader Rheno took the top spot in an election last week.
She was quoted as saying that the main opposition Democratic Party, despite some differences in opinion, would continue to collaborate with the three other parties, in line with a prior agreement struck with her predecessor Katsuya Okada.
All four parties in the upper house election held in July, fielded joint candidates as part of Okada's vision, and Rheno said that this basic principle would be continued and that the parties would cooperate at an extraordinary Diet session beginning next Monday.
Ahead of by-elections in lower house districts in Tokyo and Fukuoka Prefecture, JCP leader Kazuo Shii's notion of joining forces were welcomed by the other parties, while SDP Secretary General Seiji Mataichi pointed out that a collective strategy would be advisable for each lower house constituency ahead of the possible dissolution of the lower house at the start of the ordinary Diet session next year.
Unlike the upper caucus that sees elections scheduled, Abe can dissolve the lower house and call a snap election at will.
With a new supplementary budget up for debate and legislation pertaining to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade agreement, as well as the thorny issue of a potential amendment to the nation's pacifist Constitution, Rheno maintained that the four parties collaborating would mean greater gravitas in countering Abe and the ruling coalition.
Following the leaders' meeting Friday, the party's secretary generals and other senior officials met to further discuss proposals for collaborations and strategies, and agreed to quiz Abe on his recent cabinet reshuffle, the government's plans for the extra budget for this fiscal year and issues pertaining to the TPP deal.
