Komeito to Leave Japan's Ruling Coalition with LDP
Tokyo, Oct. 10 (Jiji Press)--Komeito, the junior partner of Japan's Liberal Democratic Party, will end its coalition with the LDP, a move that will dissolve their 26-year cooperation, Komeito leader Tetsuo Saito said Friday.
The development marks a major turning point in the country's politics.
Following the decision by Komeito, it is now uncertain whether new LDP President Sanae Takaichi will be elected prime minister at an extraordinary session of the Diet, or parliament, seen to be convened Oct. 20 at the earliest.
The Komeito leader ruled out supporting a possible new LDP-led government from outside the cabinet.
Saito informed Takaichi of his party's plan to leave the ruling coalition at their meeting in parliament earlier on Friday.
At a press conference after the meeting, Saito said that Komeito would "wipe the slate clean" on its cooperation with the LDP, including mutually recommending their candidates in parliamentary elections.
Saito explained that the two sides were unable to bridge the gaps in their basic stances on the issue of politics and money.
He criticized the LDP for failing to provide satisfactory answers at the day's meeting to Komeito proposals to tighten restrictions on political donations by corporations and other organizations and to further investigate the high-profile slush funds scandal involving LDP factions.
"We can't write Sanae Takaichi on the ballot to elect the prime minister," he said.
Komeito lawmakers plan to vote for Saito in the first round of the Diet nomination for prime minister. Saito avoided explicitly commenting on how party lawmakers will vote in a possible runoff.
At the same time, Saito said, "We don't plan to confront with the LDP," suggesting that his party will vote in favor of budget bills and legislation that it agrees with. He said Komeito lawmakers will support a supplementary budget bill if the party's policy proposals are reflected in it.
"An era of multiparty politics has started," Komeito Secretary-General Makoto Nishida said at the same press conference, adding that the party aims to advance the nation's politics by seeking cooperation from each party as needed.
Takaichi expressed disappointment over Komeito's withdrawal from the coalition, telling reporters at LDP headquarters that she was unilaterally informed of the move by Saito at their meeting Friday.
In the party leaders' meeting, Saito demanded that the LDP immediately accept Komeito's proposal to limit recipients of donations by corporations and other organizations to political parties' headquarters and prefectural chapters. Takaichi refused, however, saying that she would like at least three days to hold discussions within her party.
She added that Saito said the fate of the coalition talks would have been "the same regardless of who won the (LDP's) leadership election," which was held last Saturday.
Takaichi vowed to do everything she can to be elected the country's prime minister at the upcoming extraordinary Diet session.
She said that she has "nothing to say right now" about a possible tie-up with parties other than Komeito. The LDP will hold a meeting of its lawmakers on Tuesday to provide them with an explanation about the series of developments related to Komeito's decision to leave the coalition with the LDP.
The LDP and Komeito have cooperated for 26 years since the two parties plus the now-defunct Liberal Party formed a three-way coalition in October 1999. The LDP and Komeito maintained their partnership during the roughly three years they were out of government between September 2009 and December 2012.
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