Party holds special convention, seeks full merger with CRA

March 15 , 2026

On March 14, Komeito held an extraordinary national convention where delegates endorsed Toshiko Takeya to the post of chief representative, ushering in a new party leadership after the previous chief representative, Tetsuo Saito, became cofounder of the Centrist Reform Alliance (CRA) established in January.

In her address, Takeya reported Komeito’s aim to merge its House of Councillors members with the CRA, which is currently comprised of House of Representatives members originally from the Constitutional Democratic Party (CDP) and Komeito, in time for the Upper House elections slated for 2027.

The convention was attended by CRA President Junya Ogawa and CDP President Shunichi Mizuoka, both of whom gave congratulatory speeches. The former cited Komeito for its lengthy list of peacebuilding and social services achievements, while the latter declared his party’s resolve to work even closer with Komeito and the CRA going forward.

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