The entire affair involving Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's dismissal of Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka on Jan. 29 reminded me of an old saying that "nothing is predictable in politics." Following Koizumi's move, his government's public-approval rating plummeted to about 50 percent after remaining exceptionally high, at around 80 percent, for its first nine months.
The Tanaka case shattered the Koizumi government's image of being an administration capable of maintaining its stability over the long term, raising doubts, uneasiness and criticism over its future.
The Koizumi Cabinet relied heavily on the popularity of its two star players, Koizumi and Tanaka, and his administration's high approval rate apparently made the prime minister overconfident. This led him to treat Tanaka the same way as he treated Vice Foreign Minister Yoshiji Nogami and Muneo Suzuki, chairman of the Lower House Steering Committee, dismissing all three on the principle of "punishing all involved" in the related Foreign Ministry controversy.