Former Prime Minister Koizumi: ``Mr. Fukuda is a must have'' Ozawa: ``Still impressed'' during grand coalition negotiations

Following the death of former Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, people closely connected to him in the political world expressed their condolences one after another on the 26th. Former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who supported Mr. Fukuda as Chief Cabinet Secretary, expressed his gratitude, saying, ``It was because of Mr. Fukuda.'' Former Democratic Party representative Ichiro Ozawa, who was aiming for a ``grand coalition'', revealed the secret story from that time and praised Mr. Fukuda's character.

Mr. Fukuda served as Chief Cabinet Secretary for about three years in the Koizumi administration, following the Mori Yoshiro cabinet. Mr. Koizumi issued a statement and reflected, ``I cannot say that I could have been in power for about five and a half years without Mr. Fukuda.I was able to focus on important issues in foreign policy and domestic politics.''

In 2007, when Mr. Ozawa was the representative of the Democratic Party, he and Mr. Fukuda, the prime minister (and president of the Liberal Democratic Party), sought to form a grand coalition between the two parties. In response to an interview with reporters in Tokyo, he said, ``He responded seriously to my claims.I was moved by his sincere attitude, and I still remember him deeply.''

The idea of ​​a grand coalition came close to reaching an agreement during a meeting between the two men in November 2007, but it stalled due to opposition within the Democratic Party. Mr. Ozawa shared an episode in which Mr. Fukuda told him, ``I'll think about it again, so please meet me again.'' He also said that they had discussed sharing important positions in the government, saying, ``I still think that if we had formed a coalition at that time, the future of Japanese politics would have been different.''

During his time as prime minister, Fukuda suffered from a ``twisted Diet'' in which the opposition party had a majority in the House of Councilors. Former House of Representatives Speaker Tamori Oshima, who served as chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party Committee during the Fukuda administration, also issued a statement. ``I am saddened to see if I was able to fulfill my role, but I learned something from Mr. Fukuda's calm demeanor.''

The Fukuda Cabinet passed the new Act on Special Measures against Terrorism, which will allow the Maritime Self-Defense Force to resume refueling operations in the Indian Ocean, by re-passing the House of Representatives. Former Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who was Minister of Defense, told reporters, ``We received detailed instructions and consideration.''