Three new faces in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party who were elected in the Sept. 11 general election as proponents of postal privatization made their debut in the Diet Friday during deliberations on the issue.
Satsuki Katayama and Yukari Sato, who became House of Representatives members after beating rebel LDP members who were against the postal privatization bills, and Ryosei Akazawa, who was a Japan Post employee until August, spoke at a session of the Lower House Special Committee on Postal Privatization.
Katayama, a former Finance Ministry bureaucrat, and Sato, an economist, spoke for 30 minutes each to criticize the postal reform bills the Democratic Party of Japan has presented as an alternative to the government package.
DPJ member Hisayasu Nagata responded by cutting down the high-profile newcomers, telling them they needed to engage in the debate "as politicians" -- a reference to their bureaucratic backgrounds -- by focusing on the differences in ideas between the government's postal bills and his party's counterproposal.
Central to the DPJ bills is the idea that the postal system should be maintained as a state-backed bank offering the minimum necessary service to the public, so people can have small accounts, particularly in rural areas, DPJ member Akira Nagatsuma said.
In contrast, the government's proposed legislation would create a bank with deposits far larger than the world's No. 1 bank, Nagatsuma said.
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi called the DPJ bills "ill-defined," saying they did not specify if they were aimed at maintaining the public corporation and state guarantees on postal savings or privatizing the savings operations.
Former postal worker Akazawa asked Japan Post President Masaharu Ikuta to explain why there was a need to privatize the organization quickly.
Ikuta replied that the postal corporation has fallen behind in international competition on express service.