 Postal privatization bill is harmful: JCP Shii Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo at a press conference on May 19 warned that the postal services privatization bill which the government is attempting to bulldoze through the current Diet session is nothing but harmful for the public and must be foiled. Shii stated as follows: The Liberal Democratic-Komei government is urging the Diet to establish a special committee in each house in order to get the bill passed through the current session. First, as endorsed by parliamentary deliberations on postal services, the bill, if enacted, will never benefit the public but will do great harm. The present postal services-related law has provided the public with a national uniform services of postal savings and postal life insurance that cannot be duplicated by commercial corporations. Scrapping and making this system to the prey of banks, insurance corporations, and U.S. financial capital is the central aim of the bill. The bill, if enacted, will scrap the nationwide chain of postal communication and financial services that are essential to the public. Respondents to the daily Mainichi Shimbun's public opinion survey in February said, "Passage of the bill through the current Diet session is necessary" (21 %), "privatization is unnecessary" (23 %), and "no need to pass it within the current session" (48 %). This shows that only a small minority of the public want the bill to be enacted. Each item of the bill contradicts the government's explanations to the Diet and the public that the government will not privatize the public postal services by establishing the postal services public corporation. We cannot accept such a cavalier attitude of the government and we are opposed to the setting up of house special committees. - Akahata, May 20, 2005 |