Photo/Illutration Komeito head Tetsuo Saito during an interview with The Asahi Shimbun (Tetsuya Kasai)

Komeito leader Tetsuo Saito made clear that his party would not have left the coalition if Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba remained in office.

In an interview with The Asahi Shimbun on Oct. 14, Saito explained the background to his meeting with Sanae Takaichi, the new president of the Liberal Democratic Party, on Oct. 10 when he told her that Komeito was leaving the coalition.

Saito added that his party would now work more freely on issues it emphasizes, such as giving married couples the right to choose separate surnames.

Excerpts of the interview follow:

Question: After the Oct. 10 meeting, Takaichi said that your party unilaterally informed her about leaving the coalition. Would you like to explain?

Saito: It was not unilateral. Since Oct. 4 (when Takaichi became LDP president), we have said we would leave the coalition if policy discussions did not reach a conclusion. Over the 90 minutes of the meeting, I made clear what would be required in dealing with the LDP’s money scandal in order for Komeito to give its approval.

While we never said beforehand that the Oct. 10 meeting would be the last, Takaichi made no specific proposals.

Q: Koichi Hagiuda was deeply involved in accumulating money through fund-raising parties in the LDP faction once led by former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. How would you have decided about staying in or leaving the coalition if Takaichi had rescinded her decision to appoint Hagiuda as LDP acting secretary-general?

A: I don’t think there would have been a change. I had not heard about Hagiuda’s appointment.

During my meeting with Takaichi, LDP Secretary-General Shunichi Suzuki said something about personnel choices related to the failure to include amounts in political fund reports. I told him I was not talking about LDP personnel matters, but rather your fundamental stance on the issue.

They then said that they would deal strictly if any scandals should occur in the future, and that led me to feel that LDP officials felt that the money scandal was settled.

Q: Would you have left the coalition if Ishiba remained in office?

A: Under Ishiba, we held a party head meeting that also included the opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan. Ishiba took an extremely aggressive stance regarding the issue of political donations from companies and organizations.

If he remained in office, there would have been no need for a new policy discussion, so we would not have left the coalition.

Q: Is there a possibility that Komeito will vote for an opposition party leader if a runoff is held in the Diet to select a prime minister?

A: All possibilities are there. We will make a decision by assessing the political situation and the overall picture.

The decision will be made after holding discussions with all Komeito lawmakers. While I said in the past that I personally would have qualms about voting for an opposition party head as prime minister, I have decided to place a lid on such comments.

Q: If Komeito does not fall in line with the opposition parties that are taking a harsh view of the LDP’s money scandal, wouldn’t your decision to leave the coalition be called into question?

A: While that might be so in logical terms, we will make a decision after thinking about all factors and not take a negative view just because the grade in one subject was not good.

Q: Your party has pushed for allowing married couples to choose separate surnames. How will your party act from now?

A: As a member of the coalition, we waited for the LDP to form a consensus because we felt there was a need to hold the same view. But that will no longer matter in the future, so we will work freely toward achieving that policy.

Q: How do you feel about moves in the LDP to run candidates in the next Lower House election against Komeito incumbents?

A: We made the decision while being prepared to face very difficult elections in the single-seat districts. I myself will face a difficult struggle in the Hiroshima No. 3 district.

Komeito will focus on the proportional representation constituency in future elections, and we will ask local chapters to think through how to deal with the single-seat districts.

Related News