Thursday, May 26, 2005

Japan’s Liberal Democrats propose post office privatisation

by Brian Turner

A plan to privatize Japan’s post office, the world’s largest financial institution, began debate Thursday in the nation’s parliament.

Prime minister Junichiro Koizumi has threatened to dissolve parliament if the bill doesn’t pass, but opponents of the plan boycotted the start of debate in protest.

The prime minister believes that the plant to privatize would make needed cuts in the public sector as well as free up ¥350,000 billion ($3,240 billion) in post office funds.

But many members of the Mr. Koizumi’s own party, the Liberal Democratic Party, are against privatization, partly because in the past they have used it’s nationwide reach to line up votes and partly because they have sometimes used post office funds to finance their projects.

One political analyst said that he thinks that the bill may pass the lower house of parliament but that there is only a 50 percent chance that the upper house will approve the plan, which would split the post office into four units - savings, insurance, mail delivery, and counter services - beginning in 2007.

If the bill does not pass, the analyst said, it could create a political crisis that would bring down Mr. Koizumi’s government.

 

 

 

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