CLEAN GOVERNMENT PARTY

Japanese Komeito, Japanese political party that was founded in 1964 as the political wing of the Buddhist lay movement Soka-gakkai (q.v.). In 1970 the affiliation was officially severed, but the connection persists in membership and leadership. After the 1962 elections to the upper house of the Japanese Diet, Soka-gakkai members held 15 seats and replaced the Democratic Socialist Party as the party or group with the third largest representation. In 1964 the Clean Government Party, or Komeito, was founded; and in July 1965 the Soka-gakkai-Komeito representation in the upper house increased to 20. In its first lower-house elections in 1967 the Clean Government Party won 25 seats and by 1979 had more than doubled its representation to 57 seats. The Clean Government Party has sought to form a centre-left coalition (excluding the Communist parties) in order to challenge the ruling Liberal-Democratic Party. It preaches a humanitarian socialism and an open, independent foreign policy and, among other things, has campaigned for the gradual abolition of the JapanU.S. security treaty.