The Diet has extended its regular session by 55 days through Aug. 13 to continue the debate on proposed postal reforms. The extension gives Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi a make-or-break opportunity to realize his cherished dream of putting the unwieldy postal system under private management.
Speculation is already rife that the package will be put to a vote in the Lower House immediately after the July 3 Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election. The ruling coalition, particularly the Liberal Democratic Party, appears to be giving too much attention to postal reforms. It should spend more time addressing other major domestic and foreign policy issues.
Cynics may call this session a "hollow Diet," for little substantive debate has been conducted so far. This is especially true for the central issue of postal privatization. Prime Minister Koizumi keeps "talking up" the issue, which he describes as the "centerpiece" of his structural reform agenda. Yet he seems to have wasted much time during this "postal-reform session."