It appears that Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has come a step closer to his cherished goal of privatizing postal services -- a showcase for his structural reform plans. However, last week's Lower House vote on a postal reform package -- which effectively ensures its Diet passage by the end of this month -- marks only a small step forward, a modest milestone on the tortuous road to privatization.
The package has two broad aims: creating a public corporation to replace the Postal Services Agency and ending the government monopoly on mail service, beginning next April. This means, in principle, that private firms will be able to collect and deliver mail throughout the nation. Under the circumstances, though, that is unlikely to happen. Thus far, all major commercial couriers have chosen to stay out.
The reason for this is obvious: The bills in question are riddled with so many restrictions that nationwide competition is virtually ruled out. In this sense, the Lower House vote can be seen, for now at least, as a victory for old-guard legislators who want to keep the mail system essentially intact.