The House of Councilors voted Monday to form a special committee to deliberate the contentious package of government-sponsored postal privatization bills.

The vote to set up the panel cleared a plenary session with support from the Liberal Democratic Party and its junior coalition partner, New Komeito.

The 35-member committee, consisting of 17 LDP members, four New Komeito members and 14 opposition party members, will be headed by former Justice Minister Takao Jinnouchi and will begin debate later this week.