On Sept. 18, Komeito decided on a plan to appoint Keiichi Ishii (61) to the position of deputy chief representative. Ishii recently resigned as minister of land, infrastructure, transport and tourism. The appointment will be officially decided at a meeting of the Komeito Central Seretariat on Sept. 19. Ishii has been elected to the Lower House nine times. He has served as chairman of the Komeito policy research council and served as land minister from October 2015. His three years and 11 months in office as MLIT minister make him the longest-serving cabinet member from Komeito.