The Diet is set to debate legislation that incorporates Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's cherished plans to privatize the postal services (mail, savings and life insurance). At stake is a set of four reform bills. Two were introduced by the government last week. One will create an umbrella postal corporation; the other will allow private firms to deliver mail. The remaining two bills are expected to be submitted in early May.
There is no assurance, however, that the bills will become law. Liberal Democratic Party legislators with ties to the postal services, as well as many opposition members, are dead set against privatization. They warn that unprofitable post offices in rural regions would be driven out of business.
Private firms, meanwhile, complain that access conditions are too severe. Yamato Transport Co., the leading parcel delivery firm, has lashed out at the mail deregulation bill, saying that it will not get into the market unless the measure is improved.