Komeito Leader Keiichi Ishii Hints at Resignation; Party Will Likely Struggle to Regain Momentum

The Yomiuri Shimbun

17:01 JST, October 29, 2024

Following its defeat in Sunday’s House of Representatives election, Komeito plans to hold a convention as early as Nov. 9 to choose a successor to party leader Keiichi Ishii and launch new party systems.

However, the path to rebuilding Komeito’s momentum will be rocky.

Komeito, the junior coalition partner of the Liberal Democratic Party, won only 24 seats in the election, down from the 32 it held before the dissolution of the lower house. Ishii and other senior party members, as well as mid-career members, lost their seats.

Difficulties choosing successor

“I want to indicate the direction of the party’s organizational structure, including my next course of action, before it’s too late,” Ishii said at a press conference at the Diet on Monday, indicating his intention to resign as leader soon.

Ishii did not run in a proportional representation segment, and failed to win a Diet seat as he lost out in Saitama Constituency No. 14. This is the first time in 15 years that an incumbent Komeito leader has not been elected to the lower house since Akihiro Ota was eliminated in the 2009 lower house election.

Ishii is expected to formally announce his intention to resign at a party meeting on Thursday at the earliest, sources said.

Of the 11 Komeito candidates in single-seat constituencies, only four were elected, including Komeito vice chief Kazuyoshi Akaba, chosen in Hyogo Constituency No. 2, and Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Minister Tetsuo Saito, elected in Hiroshima Constituency No. 3.

In Osaka in the Kansai region, all four Komeito candidates lost to people with the Japan Innovation Party. They include middle-ranking former Diet members who are well versed in the work of Komeito’s policy research council, such as Toru Kunishige in Osaka Constituency No. 5 and Shinichi Isa in Osaka Constituency No. 6.

There are concerns within the party that the election results could hinder the promotion of party policies.

“We lacked the ability to overcome the headwinds,” Ishii said regarding the defeat. Komeito suffered from the public backlash over the LDP’s political funds scandals.

Komeito secured about 6 million votes in the proportional representation segment, a decrease of more than 1 million from the 7.11 million it received in the 2021 lower house election.

The crushing defeat in its first major national election since the November 2023 death of Daisaku Ikeda, honorary president of Soka Gakkai, a lay Buddhist group and part of Komeito’s support base, has sent great shock waves through the party.

Ishii had just assumed the post of party chief representative in September, succeeding Natsuo Yamaguchi, who had served for 15 years. The selection of Ishii’s successor may prove difficult.

There is not much time left to rebuild the party in preparation for the Tokyo metropolitan assembly election and the House of Councillors election, both slated for next summer, which are important for Komeito.

There is a growing view within the party that the new executive will include as main members Makoto Nishida, who took office as Komeito secretary general in September, and policy research council chair Mitsunari Okamoto, who won in Tokyo Constituency No. 29.