Yamaguchi Announces Decision to Quit as Komeito Head

Jiji Press

18:00 JST, September 10, 2024

Tokyo, Sept. 10 (Jiji Press) — Komeito leader Natsuo Yamaguchi said Tuesday that he plans to stand down as chief of the coalition partner of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party when his current term expires.

Yamaguchi, 72, told a press conference that he will not run in the party chief election, whose official campaign period starts on Sept. 18.

“Young and middle-ranking party members have grown, and it is time to prepare a new team,” he said.

“The wave of generational change is approaching in the political world,” he continued, referring to upcoming leadership elections at the LDP and other parties. “I have decided to hand the baton to the next generation.”

It will be Komeito’s first leadership change in 15 years.

Komeito Secretary-General Keiichi Ishii, 66, is expected to declare his candidacy in the party leadership race as early as Friday. As Ishii is the only Komeito member currently preparing a bid for the top post, he is expected to be chosen as the successor to Yamaguchi at a party convention on Sept. 28.

Yamaguchi became Komeito leader in 2009 after the previous head, Akihiro Ota, lost his seat in a House of Representatives election that year. He has served eight terms as chief, making him the longest-serving Komeito leader since the party’s relaunch in 1998.

Komeito election head Makoto Nishida, 62, is likely to succeed Ishii as secretary-general.

The party is mulling appointing middle-ranking members, who are expected to become the next generation of leaders, to key roles.