The executive lineup of Komeito, the coalition partner of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, remained unchanged after Natsuo Yamaguchi secured an unprecedented eighth term as leader and three key members stayed on board.

The party’s decision at its biennial conference held in Tokyo on Sep. 25 to maintain the status quo mirrors a sense of crisis that its clean image has been badly tarnished by a sexual harassment scandal involving its Diet member, among other things, political observers said. 

Party members felt they were left with no choice but to opt for stability with an experienced executive lineup.

Another pressing concern is the issue of “politics and religion” that has dominated national headlines in recent weeks following the shooting death in early July of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and revelations of extensive ties between politicians and the Unification Church.

Yamaguchi, 70, apologized for a scandal involving Seishi Kumano, the party’s lawmaker in the Upper House, who is alleged to have sent lewd online messages to a female acquaintance.

“We, Komeito lawmakers, would like to renew our pledge to be strict with ourselves and reinforce discipline across the party,” Yamaguchi said in a speech after he was re-elected as leader.

The scandal is particularly egregious in light of the party’s slogan of “Clean politics” and fears that local assembly members will face severe criticism when they face local elections next spring.

Conference attendees muttered “Indeed” when a local assembly member pleaded with the party leaders to “Please think seriously about public confidence eroding in our party and what we stand to lose.”

Keiichi Ishii, 64, who was re-appointed as secretary-general of the party at the conference, replied, “If (the sexual harassment allegation) is true, the party will quickly demand that (Kumano) resign as a Diet member.”

Aside from the sexual harassment scandal, revelations involving the Unification Church, now formally known as the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, threaten to undermine the party’s very foundations.

The “new” executive lineup at the conference was a show of keeping experienced politicians in key positions.

Shigeki Sato, 63, was re-appointed as chair of the party’s Diet affairs committee.

Yosuke Takagi, 62, who chaired the party’s election strategy committee, became the new head of the party’s policy research committee.

Makoto Nishida, 60, who heads a group of Komeito’s Upper House lawmakers, became chair of the party’s election strategy committee, a position he has held before.

Analysts said the party put the urgent task of passing the baton of leadership to the next generation on the back burner.

Instead, these executive members are all in their 60s and have experience of holding important posts in the party, observers said.

A key factor behind the appointments was the issue of the Unification Church.

Pacifist-minded Komeito was founded by Daisaku Ikeda, honorary president of Soka Gakkai, a Buddhist group.

Over the years, the relationship between Komeito and Soka Gakkai has been questioned many times in the context of “politics and religion.”

In 1995, the then head of Soka Gakkai was even summoned to the Diet.

Apparently with such history in mind, Yamaguchi told the conference, “We should regard (the issue of the Unification Church) as one between a socially problematic group and politicians, not an issue of politics and religion.”

In saying so, he stressed that unsavory revelations about the Unification Church should not be mixed with the issue of freedom of religion or separation of politics and religion, which are both guaranteed in the Constitution.

Yamaguchi also called for the amendment of laws to prevent people from falling victim to fraudulent marketing schemes, such as those perpetrated by the Unification Church.

Another pressing issue for Komeito concerns the revision of three security policy documents, including the National Security Strategy (NSS), that the government intends to tackle at the end of this year.

If, as expected, the government declares in the revised documents its intention for Japan to have capability to strike enemy bases, it will mark a significant shift in the nation’s highly restrictive and exclusively defensive postwar security policy.

In discussions on this matter with the LDP, the authenticity of Komeito, the self-declared “party of peace,” will be tested in light of its commitment to pacifist Article 9 of the Constitution in which Japan forever renounced the use of military force.

“The party averted a risk in the selection of executive members," said one insider. “The recent scandal, the Unification Church and the three security policy documents all concern what Komeito stands for.”

Party members hope to weather these difficult issues before contesting the spring local elections, which the party regards with equal importance to a national election, observers said.