If only briefly, former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi raised hopes he will stage a comeback as an anti-nuclear crusader when he met Tuesday with the head of a minor but like-minded opposition party.
But, during their 45-minute meeting, Koizumi declined Social Democratic Party chief Tadatomo Yoshida's request to cooperate with his five-Diet-member party's push to abolish nuclear plants. According to Yoshida, Koizumi argued that it was the duty of each party and politician to appeal separately and directly to the public.
"I asked him to cooperate, but he said that each party, which has its own arguments, should try to realize the abolition of nuclear power plants," Yoshida, who took charge of the SDP earlier this month, told reporters after the meeting.