Ishii to be installed as Komeito party's first new chief in 15 years

TOKYO — Komieto secretary general Keiichi Ishii will be elevated unopposed to the presidency of Japan's junior ruling coalition partner later this month after no other candidate entered the race to replace 15-year incumbent Natsuo Yamaguchi on Wednesday.

Ishii, 66, is expected to be endorsed at the party's convention scheduled for Sept. 28, a day after the ruling Liberal Democratic Party picks a successor to its chief, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

Ishii, a lower house member, previously served as land minister and has been viewed as one of the top candidates to lead the party, which has been backed by the lay-Buddhist organization Soka Gakkai.

Yamaguchi, 72, said earlier in the month that he would step down when his eighth term ends. He took the post in 2009 and is the longest-serving leader since the 1998 formation of New Komeito, which later changed its English name to Komeito.

The main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan is holding its leadership election on Monday.

© KYODO