Six Cabinet ministers involved in the plan to privatize the postal system agreed Saturday that the plan might have to be delayed beyond its scheduled start in April 2007, officials said.
The delay is intended to give the government more time to get approval from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, where many members remain opposed to the plan or to privatization itself.
The six ministers, including postal privatization minister Heizo Takenaka and Internal Affairs and Communications Minister Taro Aso, began working Saturday morning to finish a legislative outline for postal privatization by Sunday night. The ministers met at the Prime Minister's Official Residence.