Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's campaign to privatize the postal-services system has entered a crucial stage now that the Lower House has set up an ad hoc committee on government-sponsored privatization bills. The establishment of the panel attests to the prime minister's resolve to get the package through the Diet during the current regular session.

The 45-member committee, headed by Mr. Toshihiro Nikai, head of the Liberal Democratic Party's election bureau, includes Mr. Taku Yamasaki, a special assistant to Mr. Koizumi, who will act as the party's chief negotiator with the opposition parties.

The going promises to be rough. The Democratic Party of Japan, the largest opposition group, and the Social Democratic Party, are dead set against the package. Both parties boycotted Friday's Lower House session, which approved the coalition proposal to create the committee. They are planning to boycott all deliberations in the Diet.