The government will continue trying to get support from the reluctant ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition ally, New Komeito, to adopt its privatization plan for the state-run Japan Post at Friday's Cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Thursday.
Asked if the government will adopt the postal privatization plan Friday even if the parties refuse to support it, Koizumi, who heads the LDP, told reporters, "I will make a decision while watching the situation.
"We are making efforts (to obtain support from the parties) and I would like to monitor" the development, he added, citing moves by Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda to persuade the LDP and New Komeito to agree to the plan.
Hosoda said in a separate press conference, "The government continues to hope to proceed with a Cabinet decision" Friday.
He declined to comment, however, on whether a decision would be made without the support of the parties.
Opposition by LDP lawmakers to Koizumi's key policy initiative has intensified since Hosoda said last Thursday that the government aims to adopt the basic Japan Post privatization plan at Friday's Cabinet meeting.
On Wednesday, a 250-member group of lawmakers within the 360-member LDP adopted a resolution against the privatization in a general meeting attended by 193 members and proxies.