26 Years of LDP-Komeito Alliance Marked by Twists and Turns

Tokyo, Oct. 11 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito on Friday drew a curtain on their 26-year alliance, which was marked by twists and turns. The two parties have been in a mutually dependent relationship centered on electoral cooperation. Under the partnership, Komeito has been forced to support the LDP’s conservative policies, despite its banner of a party for peace, while the LDP has had to recall the prime minister to maintain voter support. In the mid-1990s, before the two parties concluded a coalition agreement, the LDP campaigned against the lay Buddhist group Soka Gakkai, the main supporter of Komeito, due to concerns about the rise of the now-defunct New Frontier Party, in which Komeito participated. “Any religious group must not have political power,” then LDP lawmaker Shizuka Kamei said at a House of Representatives budget committee meeting in 1994, demanding that the Diet summon Soka Gakkai’s then leader, Daisaku Ikeda, for sworn testimony. A turning point came after the LDP suffered a defeat in the 1998 House of Councillors election. At the time, the LDP sought a stable government, while Komeito wanted to stop the anti-Soka Gakkai campaign. In October 1999, the two parties formed a coalition after the cabinet of then Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi from the LDP accepted Komeito’s proposal to distribute vouchers worth 20,000 yen per person. The LDP ceded some electoral constituencies to Komeito and called on its supporters to cast a proportional representation vote for Komeito, in exchange for Komeito’s support for LDP candidates elsewhere in the country. Although the two sides benefited from their electoral cooperation, there was constant friction over policy. Many in Komeito and Soka Gakkai were unhappy with the LDP’s hawkish policies, such as the 2003 dispatch of Self-Defense Force troops to Iraq and the 2006 revision of the basic education law to feature patriotism. Meanwhile, Komeito occasionally played an active role in the alliance. In 2001, then party leader Takenori Kanzaki openly urged then Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, who had a low approval rating, to step down. In 2008, then leader Akihiro Ota urged newly elected Prime MinisterTaro Aso behind closed doors to swiftly dissolve the Lower House for a snap election, though Aso refused. In the 2009 Lower House election, the LDP-Komeito pair suffered a crushing defeat and lost power. During the following three years in the opposition camp, Komeito cooperated with the administration led by the now-defunct Democratic Party of Japan, including on child allowances. The DPJ was said to be courting Komeito, with its secretary-general, Ichiro Ozawa, meeting with senior Soka Gakkai officials. However, the two parties stopped short of forming a coalition. After the LDP-Komeito pair returned to power in late 2012, Komeito struggled to deal with then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, whose administration changed a constitutional interpretation to enable the country to exercise the right to collective self-defense. Meanwhile, its proposal to introduce a lower consumption tax rate was adopted. While some criticized Komeito for being subservient to the LDP, the party maintained the coalition, regarding itself as a “brake” on the LDP’s drift to the right. In 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Komeito persuaded the LDP to provide 100,000-yen cash handouts to all citizens, instead of benefits only to households with income decreases, which were advocated by then LDP policy chief Fumio Kishida. In recent years, the LDP-Komeito electoral cooperation has become less effective, due to Soka Gakkai’s aging membership. In this July’s Upper House election, Komeito won a record low of eight seats. In its review of the election results, Komeito said that it may have to review its relationship with the LDP, which has been shaken by the issue of politics and money. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]