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Postal Privatization Splits Public in Japan
(Angus Reid Global Scan) - Japanese adults are divided over the government-proposed privatization of the country's postal service, according to a poll by Kyodo News. 42.2 per cent of respondents support the idea, while 42.3 per cent disagree.
Last September, prime minister Junichiro Koizumi formalized a policy to divide the country's state-operated Japan Post into four companies—postal savings, postal life insurance, mail delivery and post office management—in April 2007. If approved, the privatization process is expected to take 10 years. Japan Post is the Asian country's largest employer—with 400,000 workers—and also the world's biggest savings bank, worth an estimated $3.1 trillion U.S. in funds and insurance policies.
On Jul. 5, the House of Representatives narrowly endorsed the postal privatization bill. The House of Councillors will now review the proposal. Koizumi has said he wants the plan ratified before the end of the parliamentary session on Aug. 13.
Yesterday, Koizumi said he would consider calling a snap election if the bill is defeated in the upper house. Finance minister Sadakazu Tanigaki said the government "needs to gain as much support as possible from the public" on the postal privatization plan.
Koizumi earned a new four-year mandate in the November 2003 parliamentary election. The prime minister leads a coalition encompassing his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), the New Komeito Clean Government Party (Kt) and the New Conservative Party (CP), with 279 lawmakers in the 480-seat House of Representatives.
Polling Data
Do you support or oppose postal privatization?
Support | 42.2% |
Oppose | 42.3% |
Source: Kyodo News
Methodology: Interviews to 1,006 Japanese adults, conducted on Jul. 5 and Jul. 6, 2005. No margin of error was provided.