The transition to 2020 is significant for many reasons, but politically it marks the beginning of the third decade of the political alliance between the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito.
Now in the 21st year of the formal coalition, opinions are mixed on the implications of this relationship. Some say Komeito has acted as little more than a rubber stamp for LDP policies. In security matters, however, the junior partner's influence is quite clear.
Despite its relatively small numbers within the coalition, Komeito has exercised a disproportionate level of power in areas where consensus among LDP factions is fractured; namely, the realm of security. We saw it in the late 1990s and early 2000s with new security legislation, in 2014-2015 with the reinterpretation of Article 9 of the Constitution, and we will continue to see it heading into the 2020s — namely every time Abe mentions "constitutional amendment."
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