Japan ruling party's junior ally Komeito to end coalition

Tokyo, Oct 10 (IANS) Japan's Komeito said Friday that the political party plans to terminate its coalition with the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and will not vote for new LDP chief Sanae Takaichi as Prime Minister, citing differences over their response to political funding issues, local media reported.

Komeito leader Tetsuo Saito told Takaichi in a meeting on Friday afternoon that his party will leave the coalition government, ending a partnership between the two parties that has lasted more than 25 years, public broadcaster NHK reported.

Saito and Takaichi discussed their coalition framework based on three issues -- views on history, including visits to the war-linked Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, Komeito's concerns over potentially exclusionary policies toward foreigners, and political funding reforms, Kyodo News reported.

But the two leaders could not agree on the third issue, with Komeito demanding more efforts to get to the bottom of the funds scandal and tighter controls of political donations by businesses and organisations, Xinhua news agency reported quoting the Kyodo News.

Saito said at a news conference that efforts to tackle politics and money are Komeito's top priorities and that the LDP failed to provide sufficient answers regarding political funding issues.

Komeito was urging the LDP to accept its proposal to have stricter restrictions on political donations by businesses, which also caps donations to a single party to 20 million yen (about $130,862) annually to limit their influence on policymaking, although there is currently no cap under the law.

The LDP, by far the top beneficiary of corporate donations, is seeking to avoid restrictions on such donations to individual lawmakers.

"We cannot write the name of Sanae Takaichi in a vote for a new prime minister," Saito added that Komeito will not vote for her in the upcoming parliamentary session to choose the country's new leader.

For Takaichi to become Japan's first female prime minister, she must be appointed by the Diet, Japan's parliament. Komeito's breakup means the LDP will need to court opposition parties to vote Takaichi in as Japan's next prime minister.

The smaller Komeito initially formed a coalition government with the LDP from 1999 to 2009 and they later regained power together in 2012 and have held it since.

--IANS

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