Former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi still ranks high in public opinion polls as the lawmaker most suitable as prime minister, but his political clout no longer appears to be what it once was.
Last month, Koizumi rebuked Prime Minister Taro Aso and walked out a House of Representatives session March 4 when the ruling bloc approved the cash handout plan.
Koizumi was apparently angry, as Aso made a series of comments against his structural reform pillar, the postal system privatization, while trying to push his own bill through the Diet using the Liberal Democratic Party seats obtained under the popular Koizumi in the 2005 election.