Three senior lawmakers from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party came out Sunday against Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's stated plan to dissolve the House of Representatives and hold an election if his postal privatization bills are voted down.
Appearing on a Fuji TV talk show, Takeo Hiranuma, a former minister of economy, trade and industry, said Koizumi should not make the debate over the postal privatization bills a decisive battle with the fate of the nation's politics hanging in the balance.
Former LDP Secretary General Koichi Kato and former Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura, appearing on the same show, also opposed dissolution.
On a TV Asahi talk show, Toranosuke Katayama, secretary general of the LDP's caucus in the House of Councilors, said dissolving the Lower House would lead to major political disarray.
The legislative package to privatize Japan Post, which narrowly passed the Lower House earlier the month, is now under deliberation in the upper chamber. Koizumi has said he will regard any rejection of the bills -- the central plank of his reform initiative -- as a vote of no confidence.
"Dissolution would create a political vacuum," said Hiranuma, who voted against the bills in the Lower House plenary session July 5.
He suggested Koizumi is motivated by a desire to save face and is acting out of self-interest.
Hiranuma also said the position taken by senior LDP leaders disregards the opinions of party members who oppose postal privatization and must be corrected.