 Postal privatization bills submitted to Diet The government approved six bills to privatize postal services at a cabinet meeting on April 27 and submitted them to the Diet. Japanese Communist Party Secretariat Head Ichida Tadayoshi on the same day published the following statement demanding that the bills be withdrawn and scrapped: The postal privatization bills that the Koizumi Cabinet approved in a cabinet meeting will seriously endanger the national network of fundamental public services in communication and finances in three areas, postal service, postal savings, and post office life insurance, as well as the national network of post offices offering those services. The JCP opposes privatizing postal services because it amounts to forsaking public services. The JCP demands that the bills be withdrawn and scrapped. The Koizumi Cabinet is refusing to answer the people's questions and anxiety about why the postal services need to be privatized and whether post offices will disappear from their towns. It is because the idea of postal services privatization is designed to satisfy the requests of the banking and life insurance industries that are calling for an end to or downsizing of postal savings and post office life insurance, and of the U.S. government speaking in the interests of U.S. finance capital. The government dares not state that privatization is to serve the interests of private capital at the sacrifice of services to the public. The agreement reached between the government and the Liberal Democratic Party regarding some amendment to be made will not change the nature of postal privatization and its reduced services to the public. The agreement refers to the need of establishing a fund serving the interests of societies and localities and of cross holding of shares by privatized companies for the purpose of maintaining universal service. That the agreement had to refer to such needs is acknowledgment that privatization will seriously undermine the public services that local post offices have been providing. No details are forthcoming about the fund, concerning how much is necessary to maintain the national post office network and if the fund can be created by the profits on the sale of shares and dividends. Apparently, it is an empty promise that shares are to be sold and then bought back so that the three postal businesses can be operated in a unified manner to maintain universal service. The government must clearly give up a postal privatization scheme that it cannot even explain. The Liberal Democratic Party is taking advantage of the postal services for its own interest and postal officials will be "parachuting" into jobs at many postal group companies. The government has the responsibility to provide the public with the fundamental services in postal communication and financing with efficient services. - Akahata, April 28, 2005 |