Komeito’s New Leader: Fulfill Coalition Partner’s Role of Ensuring Political Stability

Editorial

15:48 JST, September 19, 2024

It has been decided that Natsuo Yamaguchi, who has served as leader of Komeito for 15 years, will step down from the post and be replaced by Keiichi Ishii, secretary general of the party.

Ishii must fulfill the important role of ensuring the smooth handling of the coalition government in cooperation with the Liberal Democratic Party and political stability.

Yamaguchi has served eight terms as chief representative of Komeito since assuming the post shortly after the 2009 House of Representatives election, which resulted in the LDP-Komeito government falling from power.

The LDP and the main opposition, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, are in the process of choosing new party leaders. In January, the Japanese Communist Party also replaced its chairperson. Yamaguchi seems to have felt a sense of urgency that Komeito’s presence could be lost unless the leadership is renewed now.

Yamaguchi has long focused his efforts on maintaining the stability of the coalition government.

Komeito, which calls itself a party for peace, was cautious about allowing Japan to exercise the right of collective self-defense. However, through consultations with the LDP, Komeito has allowed the right to be exercised in limited situations, such as when the nation’s survival is threatened. This review of the right has strengthened the Japan-U.S. alliance and also improved deterrence against threats.

When the consumption tax rate was raised to 10%, Komeito sought to introduce a reduced tax rate of 8% on groceries and other items. The LDP was cautious about this, but Komeito persuaded the ruling party.

It is noteworthy that Komeito has found points of agreement through repeated discussions with the LDP, even if there are gaps in their views.

The Komeito leader can directly advise the prime minister on a variety of policies, as well as how the administration should be handled, and seek a course correction. Ishii will be tested as to whether he will be able to fulfill this role.

Rebuilding Komeito’s momentum will also be a major task for Ishii.

The votes Komeito garners in the proportional representation segment of national elections, after peaking at 8.98 million in the 2005 lower house election, are on a downward trend. The decline is believed to be due to the aging of the members of the party’s support body Soka Gakkai, leading to a decrease in their campaigning activities.

In past national elections, the Japan Innovation Party has not fielded a candidate in the single-seat constituencies in the Kansai region in which there is a Komeito incumbent. However, in the next lower house election, the JIP intends to change its policy and field a rival candidate. Ishii, who has been elected repeatedly in the proportional representation segment, will run for the first time in a single-seat constituency.

The next lower house election is likely to be a battle that will predict the rise or fall of Komeito.

Since the formation of the party in 1964, there has never been an election to choose a party leader in which multiple candidates vied for the post. In the latest election, too, Ishii was the only candidate and was elected without a vote.

Decisions are likely made through behind-the-scenes arrangements between Komeito and Soka Gakkai. However, while the LDP and the CDPJ are holding elections for party leaders with multiple candidates, the way Komeito chooses its leader has brought the unique nature of the party into sharp relief once again. Finding ways to broaden the party base as a centrist party is also an issue for Komeito.

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Sept. 19, 2024)