  Cancel the privatization of postal services! -- Akahata editorial, September 9The government Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy has adopted a basic plan for privatizing the postal services in 2007. Prime Minister Koizumi Jun'ichiro says the plan will be approved by the government on September 10. A JNN TV network survey found that 90 percent of the people think that the prime minister has not given them any convincing reason as to why the postal services have to be privatized. This reflects the concern that the privatization will close down many local post offices. The prime minister has unveiled a plan to break up the company into four entities at the start of the privatization: mail delivery, postal savings, life insurance, and management of the networks of over-the-counter services. But Japan Post President Ikuta Masaharu does not agree. He says preparations for the privatization and break-up will not be completed by 2007, and if Koizumi's plan is implemented hastily, it will cause chaos. "I swear I cannot do the impossible," he said. Disregarding Ikuta's warning, Koizumi has forced the advisory panel to adopt the plan, saying technical problems will be dealt with separately. How reckless Koizumi is! He is simply crushing the people's wishes underfoot. Meeting the demand of major banks Banks view postal savings as an obstacle to their business and are demanding that the privatized Japan Post be divided into several entities and that government guarantee be abolished. The Post Office has run mail delivery, postal savings, and "kampo" life insurance in one entity and has achieved higher efficiency than banks without incurring much cost because the government has guaranteed repayment of savings as well as insurance payments. This has made it possible for the postal services to provide a sense of security to people. These are elements that have enabled the postal services to establish a network of post offices throughout the country (including remote local villages) and provide the same mail delivery, postal savings, and "kampo" life insurance services everywhere. The unified entity for the three services and the government guarantee system are the basis for providing nationally uniformed services. If this entity is broken up, these nationally uniform services will not be maintained. An over-the-counter service company that will be established after a break-up of the privatized company will only own and manage post office buildings. The adopted basic plan states that key post offices will be maintained as much as possible in remote depopulated regions, but that post offices that do not meet the necessary criteria may be closed down. The plan also makes it clear that post offices in urban areas will be consolidated or reduced. The basic plan requires mail delivery service to be provided under nationally uniform conditions. However, the mail delivery service will lose its financial basis after the privatization. As Takenaka Heizo, minister for economic and fiscal policy, has said, it would be necessary to use tax money to maintain a nationally uniformed service and using more tax money is inconsistent with privatization. On the other hand, the basic plan does not require postal savings and "kampo" life insurance to be provided under the same conditions throughout the country on the grounds that there are sufficient bank networks. This argument is a copy of what the banks and life insurance companies are insisting on in disregard of the reality. As for postal savings, the banks' best customers are large corporations and large depositors. Large deposits of more than 10 million yen account for more than 60 percent of all deposits at major banks, and those of more than 100 million yen account for almost 40 percent. Banks treat large depositors favorably in interest rates and handling fees while forcing small depositors to pay fees for transactions using automated teller machines, which are much higher than interests on deposits or fees for the maintenance of accounts. Banks are also massively consolidating their branches in order to make as much profit as possible at the cost of residents' convenience. Although the amount of each individual postal saving is limited to 10 million yen, people can use it for small savings and the settlement of transactions. The postal ATM is free of charge. The post office accounts for 70 percent of financial institutions in remote areas. Protect lifeline The postal savings service allows people to establish small savings accounts and settle transactions, which banks are unwilling to do, as an essential part of the people's living conditions. Destroying these services mean a national loss. We can cite numerous reasons why postal services have to be run by the state in the public interest. The advocates of the privatization only base their arguments on the greed of banks and there's nothing reasonable in their arguments. Stop the privatization of the postal services to protect the interests of the people. (end) |