FOCUS: LDP-Komeito Breakup Driven by Discord over Political Funds

11 Ottobre 2025

Tokyo, Oct. 11 (Jiji Press)–The ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito, a partnership that had shaped Japanese politics since 1999, has ended abruptly due to a discord over a political fund scandal at the LDP. Komeito, dissatisfied with LDP President Sanae Takaichi’s apparent attempt to put an end to the issue early, declared an exit from the partnership Friday. The collapse of the coalition has undermined the LDP’s political foundation and set off a political storm. “We’ve reached our limit,” Komeito leader Tetsuo Saito said after declaring the breakup at a meeting with Takaichi. “We can no longer give explanations about the scandal of the LDP or support it. It’s time to put a period to our relationship.” Komeito’s discontent was brewing for some time. The LDP failed to respond sufficiently to calls for fully elucidating the scandal and strictly tightening political funds rules after the scandal broke in late 2023, although the party pledged to start anew as if from scratch under former President Shigeru Ishiba, the current prime minister, and his predecessor, Fumio Kishida. In the past, the LDP and Komeito overcame conflicts, including the major one over the controversial decision to allow Japan to exercise if necessary its right to collective self-defense under the administration of then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. However, the fund scandal dealt a blow to Komeito, which had already been sapped by an aging of party supporters. Komeito incurred crushing defeats in last year’s election for the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of parliament, and this year’s poll for the House of Councillors, the upper chamber. The routs alarmed senior Komeito lawmakers. “Our party is in a life-or-death crisis,” Saito said. “We need to consider leaving the coalition,” a senior party member said just after the July Upper House election, in which the Democratic Party for the People and Sanseito in the opposition side won many seats. In its review of the election results, Komeito identified “the course of its cooperative relationship with the LDP” as a key issue to be examined, while showing its intention to become the core of “centrist reform forces.” Komeito was quietly distancing itself from the LDP while coordinating closely with its support group, Soka Gakkai, a lay Buddhist organization. While Komeito increasingly grew concerned about the unpopularity of the ruling coalition, the LDP appeared less responsive. Communication between the two parties decreased following retirements of heavyweights who had worked to connect the two parties. In the LDP’s Oct. 4 leadership race, in which conservative lawmaker Takaichi was elected, there were no deep debates on political fund reforms. None of the five candidates proposed a drastic revision of the political funds control law. After the LDP-Komeito pair lost its majority in both chambers, the LDP explored the possibility of allying with other parties such as Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Innovation Party). This struck Komeito as an act belittling it, given that Nippon Ishin competes fiercely with Komeito in Osaka Prefecture, a Komeito executive said. As soon as Takaichi takes office as LDP president, Komeito called for stricter regulations on political donations by companies and other organizations. The rift became clear when Takaichi appointed Koichi Hagiuda, whose policy secretary was indicted without arrest over the political fund scandal just in August, as LDP executive acting secretary-general. Furthermore, former Prime Minister Taro Aso, who called senior Komeito lawmakers “cancer” for their views in the two parties’ discussions on national security, has been named vice president as he contributed to Takaichi’s victory in the LDP race. “Is this their answer?” a senior Soka Gakkai official said of the LDP executive lineup. Komeito began its shift away from the coalition. During Friday’s meeting, Takaichi asked Komeito to give her at least three days to respond to its demand regarding donation restrictions, but Saito said, “We want your answer now.” “That was our reply. It had been decided a while ago,” a senior Komeito member said. The collapse of the LDP-Komeito coalition rattled the political world. LDP Election Strategy Committee Chairman Keiji Furuya, close to Takaichi, cut short his trip to Taiwan to address the situation. The LDP is concerned about losing support from Komeito in upcoming elections. In Lower House single-seat constituencies, Komeito’s support is believed to have added around 20,000 votes to LDP candidates. An LDP executive said, “Komeito has more to lose” from the exit from the coalition, but the impact will be significant on LDP members in closely contested constituencies. The focus has turned to the parliamentary election of the next prime minister during the upcoming extraordinary session, seen starting as early as Oct. 20. If opposition parties agree on a unified candidate, they may be able to win. The LDP is trying to win over the DPFP and Nippon Ishin to divide the opposition. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.] 

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