Muneo Suzuki

"I am considering making a bid for an Upper House seat," the 56-year-old Suzuki said at a seminar in Sapporo.

Suzuki was to run in the Lower House election in November as an independent in his home Hokkaido No. 7 constituency or in the Hokkaido proportional representation block by starting a new political group with backer Chiharu Matsuyama, a well-known singer.

However, he gave up the idea as he had to undergo surgery for stomach cancer.

Chiharu Matsuyama

Suzuki was forced to leave the governing Liberal-Democratic Party in March 2002 before his arrest in June that year, but refused to resign from the Lower House.

The former deputy chief Cabinet secretary automatically lost his seat when the chamber was dissolved Oct. 10 for the Nov. 9 election.

The Japan Times Weekly: May 15, 2004
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