A couple of weeks ago I wrote that Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi was brimming with confidence after a bill proposing special measures to support the reconstruction of Iraq passed the House of Representatives in the National Diet. A likely political scenario for the fall -- one that anticipated a long-term stable Koizumi administration -- was offered up, and went something like this:
* The Iraq reconstruction bill is approved in the House of Councilors and enacted in mid-August.
* The ruling Liberal Democratic Party holds its presidential election in September, and Koizumi is overwhelmingly re-elected.