Japanese postal privatization bills clear lower house ad hoc panel
A set of bills to privatize Japan Post passed the House of Representatives ad hoc committee Monday on the strength of the ruling bloc, clearing the way for a vote at a lower house plenary session Tuesday.
The six privatization bills and four bills to amend them cleared the Special Committee on Postal Privatization as the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner, the New Komeito party, supported it against opposition from the opposition camp.
The ruling parties now aim to pass the bills through the full lower house on Tuesday before Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi leaves for the summit of the Group of Eight nations to be held Wednesday through Friday in Scotland.
Koizumi aims to pass the bills during the current Diet session through Aug. 13.
In a wrap-up interpellation session before passing the bills at the panel, Koizumi reiterated that they are designed to enable post offices to provide diversified services and huge postal funds to be diverted to the private sector.
Lawmakers of the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan stressed their criticism of the bills that they might result in a massive government-affiliated conglomerate that would weigh on private-sector competitors.
In tactics to delay the bills’ passage and have parliament run out of time to enact them, the DPJ is considering submitting no-confidence motions against postal privatization minister Heizo Takenaka and several other Cabinet members in Tuesday’s session.
Many LDP lawmakers are also opposed to the policy out of fear it could result in the closure of the bulk of post offices, particularly in rural, depopulated areas.
Worried at this opposition within the party, LDP executives earlier Monday circulated a document warning of disciplinary action against member lawmakers not complying with the party’s decision to vote for the bills in Tuesday’s plenary session.
But they estimated that the number of opponents who would actually cast dissenting votes may fall below 20 and that fewer than 40 would abstain, meaning the opponents would fall short of blocking the bills.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda indicated the same day the government also will take disciplinary steps against lawmakers in such posts as senior vice minister and parliamentary secretary if they do not vote for the bills.
To ensure the bills clear the lower house special panel, LDP executives replaced eight of the party’s 23 committee members last Friday because they were opposed to the privatization plan.
The government initially submitted six postal privatization bills and four amendment bills were later presented, based on an agreement between the government and the LDP.
The government and the LDP agreed to amend the bills on four points, including a provision to enable Japan Post’s savings and “kampo” life insurance services to stay under a certain degree of state control.
The bills would split the public corporation into four units to be run under a holding company from April 2007 and make the financial units fully privately-owned in 10 years, but open the way for them to be reunited afterward under the government-affiliated holding firm.
The privatization is Koizumi’s pet policy and has become the focal point of the current Diet session.
