Ishii to head Komeito in first leadership change in 15 years

Komeito, the coalition partner of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, is set to have a new leader for the first time in 15 years, with its current secretary-general, Keiichi Ishii, the only person running in the party’s leadership race that officially began Wednesday.
Ishii, 66, filed his candidacy with the party on the day. As no other party members did so, Ishii will be appointed the new Komeito leader at a party convention on Sept. 28 to succeed Natsuo Yamaguchi, 72, who has held the post for 15 years.
The party faces the pressing issue of rejuvenating its leadership team.
Eyeing the possibility of an early dissolution of the House of Representatives, the all-important lower chamber of the Diet, Japan’s parliament, for a general election, Ishii is considering picking 62-year-old Makoto Nishida, Komeito’s election strategy head, as new secretary-general to succeed him after he becomes party leader.
Ishii, who has been elected to the Lower House 10 times, will also think of appointing middle-ranking party lawmakers to key posts, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Ishii became Komeito secretary-general in 2020 after serving in key posts such as the party’s policy chief and land, infrastructure, transport and tourism minister.
He plans to run in the next Lower House election from the No. 14 single-seat constituency in Saitama Prefecture. In the previous Lower House election, in 2021, Ishii was elected from the northern Kanto bloc under the proportional representation system.