Tanaka regrets helping `street performer' Koizumi

[dArKeR]

REUTERS , TOKYO
Likening her one-time political ally to a "street performer," former Japanese foreign minister Makiko Tanaka said on Tuesday that she regretted helping Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to power three years ago.

Tanaka, a lawmaker and former member of Koizumi's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), was once one of Japan's most popular politicians. Her tireless campaigning at Koizumi's side was a key element in his rise to power in April 2001.

But her outspokenness, and a bitter battle with foreign ministry bureaucrats and their LDP backers, led Koizumi to sack her in January 2002.

On Tuesday, the fiery Tanaka slammed Koizumi on a wide range of policies, including his decision to send troops to Iraq and have them take part in multinational forces there.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2004/06/17/2003175402

[jdj]

1. Maybe something got lost in translation.

She probably said "street walker" since he acquiesed to Bush on the Iraq war.

[jobycom]

2. No, she's quite specific in the article

"He is like a street performer," she told reporters. "He will do various things like juggling, breathing fire and riding a unicycle, but when things go against him, he just folds up his wrapping cloth and withdraws.