The Diet will convene Jan. 21 for this year's ordinary session, which is scheduled to run through June 19, the government said Thursday.

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will deliver a policy speech on the first day of the session, which will be followed by three days of interpellations. The House of Representatives Budget Committee will then go into session, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Masaaki Yamazaki said.

The main items on the agenda will be a supplementary fiscal 2004 budget for disaster relief, the main budget for fiscal 2005 and legislation to privatize Japan Post, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda told ruling party executives Thursday.

The government plans to submit the postal privatization bills in mid-March after working out differences with the ruling parties, Hosoda said.