The Liberal Democratic Party-led ruling bloc will not submit to the ongoing ordinary Diet session a contentious bill to revise the education law to include patriotism, lawmakers said Thursday.
The LDP and coalition partner New Komeito also agreed that bills for postal privatization would be prioritized. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has called postal privatization his most important task before he ends his term.
Referring to the planned revision of the Fundamental Law of Education, Kenji Kosaka, chief deputy chairman of the LDP's Diet Affairs Committee, told reporters, "We don't necessarily have to hurry."
The LDP at its annual convention on Jan. 18 adopted a policy platform for 2005 that includes a resolve to revise the education law.
The 150-day regular Diet session convened last Friday.
Koizumi, who is also LDP president, made clear in his policy speech that the government will overhaul its educational guidelines to improve Japan's academic capability and "positively deal with" revisions to the education law.
Conservative politicians want patriotism and traditional values enforced at schools.
But the LDP and New Komeito have been at loggerheads over how to refer to such education under the law. Concerns have been raised about a revival of the kind of nationalism seen under Japan's past military rule.