The administration of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will not last long unless he shifts to a policy of aggressive spending to shore up the economy in the near future, says a Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker openly critical of Koizumi's reform initiatives.
"If the Koizumi Cabinet keeps running on the wrong track, we will have to have second thoughts" about supporting the prime minister, said Toshikatsu Matsuoka, leader of an anti-Koizumi group of LDP lawmakers set up last month. "That would be in the best interests of the public."
The greatest achievement of the popular prime minister and LDP chief in his first eight months in office, according to Matsuoka, is that he has led the party to a resounding victory in the Upper House election in July.
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