Komeito Struggling after Defeat in Upper House Election
There are even calls for the party to give up on fielding candidates in constituencies and instead focus on the proportional representation system.
Komeito leader Tetsuo Saito pledged to promote reform to rebuild the party in a meeting with local chapter representatives on Aug. 1 to review the results of the Upper House election.
'In order to achieve party revitalization, we will advance reform and make every effort to establish an unshakable foundation to win (elections) in any headwind,' Saito said.
In the election, Komeito lost its seats in three constituencies, while its number of proportional presentation votes dropped to 5.21 million from nearly nine million it collected in the past.
Komeito had set a goal of maintaining its 14 seats up for re-election, but it ended up winning only eight seats, the lowest since the party took its current form in 1998.
Amid the aging of members of Soka Gakkai, a lay Buddhist group that is the party's main supporter, some have been calling on Komeito to withdraw from costly races in constituencies and put resources into proportional representation.
But Komeito has continued to field candidates in constituencies by upholding its principles of being a party rooted in local communities.
'There is an option to focus on proportional representation in order to gain support nationwide,' a Komeito official said. The proposal for withdrawing from constituencies, which was put forward after the ruling coalition briefly fell from power following its defeat in the 2009 election for the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of parliament, may emerge again, the official said.
The party's declining tide is also affecting its generational change. Keiichi Ishii resigned as Komeito leader only less than two months after assuming the post, after he was defeated in the Lower House election in October. Many middle-ranking Komeito lawmakers, who were seen as candidates for future party executives, also lost their seats in the election.
Despite the defeat in July's Upper House election, there are few calls from within the party for Saito to step down because of a lack of personnel.
'Saito is likely to stay on for the time being. Who will replace him?' a Komeito official said.
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