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Never thought the old guy had the balls to do such a thing. Very refreshing change in Japan over the last couple of years. 
I laughed heartily at the Japan Post quote about dictatorship. Pretty amazing what people will say and do when iron rice bowls are threatened.
From FT...
I laughed heartily at the Japan Post quote about dictatorship. Pretty amazing what people will say and do when iron rice bowls are threatened.
From FT...
Koizumi dissolves parliament after post defeat
By David Pilling in Tokyo
Published: August 8 2005 06:33 | Last updated: August 8 2005 11:29
graphicJapanese prime minister Junichiro Koizumi has dissolved parliament, paving the way for a snap election in September, after a key postal privatisation bill was rejected in an upper house vote on Monday.
Mr Koizumi, who said he would prefer to “be killed” than give up his hopes of privatising the post office, got the approval to dissolve the lower house of parliament at an emergency cabinet meeting held after the vote. Such a move means a general election must be held within 40 days.
Monday’s vote highlighted how widely Mr Koizumi’s ruling Liberal Democratic party is divided over the postal reform. The bill - the centrepiece of Mr Koizumi’s reform agenda - was defeated by 125 votes to 108, an unexpectedly wide margin. Twenty-two LDP members voted against the bill and eight abstained. It would have been defeated if just 18 LDP legislators voted against.
Immediately after the parliament vote, senior LDP members tried to persuade Mr Koizumi to resign with his cabinet, clearing the way for the election of a new LDP president and hence prime minister. Several LDP politicians also criticised what they described as Mr Koizumi’s illogical determination to dissolve the lower house because of a vote taken in the upper chamber.
The cabinet is due to hold another meeting later Monday to set the date for the election.
Takao Toshikawa, editor of InsideLine, a political newsletter, said Mr Koizumi was convinced he could go to the country and return with a fresh mandate to push his privatisation through.
But the opposition Democratic Party of Japan will see the election as a big chance to seize power for the first time.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock average fell 1 per cent before the vote, but rose immediately after the bill was rejected to 11788.98, up 0.1 per cent on the day.
The bill’s fate was sealed when senior LDP members came out against the privatisation. There were also bitter complaints against Mr Koizumi’s political style, which flies in the face of Japan’s traditional consensus decision-making process.
Kobo Inamura, until his retirement this year a senior executive at Japan Post, said: “The extreme market fundamentalists have received a big blow. There was even the odour of rising dictatorship by the prime minister, threatening the free decision-making at the lower house.”
Opponents of privatisation argue that it would threaten what they say is Japan's most beloved and secure institution. It would also sever a traditional, though unofficial, source of finance and vote-gathering that has helped keep the LDP in almost unbroken power for the half century since it was founded.
Yoshiro Mori, former prime minister and Mr Koizumi’s political mentor, has turned against his protégé in recent days. “The prime minister's stubborn stance makes us feel that we should no longer rely on him to head the government,” he said last week.
LDP heavyweights fear that an election could split the party, with those who voted against privatisation in the lower house facing the possibility of expulsion. Heizo Takenaka, minister in charge of postal reform, said defeat was a "big loss" for the economy. Legislators had voted for big government over the efficiency of the market, he said.
Mr Koizumi has argued that privatising the post office would liberate Y350,000bn ($3,200bn) of savings and insurance premium funds that could be funnelled more efficiently through the private sector. He has also said privatisation would slim down the state by removing one-third of all public employees from government payrolls.
By David Pilling in Tokyo
Published: August 8 2005 06:33 | Last updated: August 8 2005 11:29
graphicJapanese prime minister Junichiro Koizumi has dissolved parliament, paving the way for a snap election in September, after a key postal privatisation bill was rejected in an upper house vote on Monday.
Mr Koizumi, who said he would prefer to “be killed” than give up his hopes of privatising the post office, got the approval to dissolve the lower house of parliament at an emergency cabinet meeting held after the vote. Such a move means a general election must be held within 40 days.
Monday’s vote highlighted how widely Mr Koizumi’s ruling Liberal Democratic party is divided over the postal reform. The bill - the centrepiece of Mr Koizumi’s reform agenda - was defeated by 125 votes to 108, an unexpectedly wide margin. Twenty-two LDP members voted against the bill and eight abstained. It would have been defeated if just 18 LDP legislators voted against.
Immediately after the parliament vote, senior LDP members tried to persuade Mr Koizumi to resign with his cabinet, clearing the way for the election of a new LDP president and hence prime minister. Several LDP politicians also criticised what they described as Mr Koizumi’s illogical determination to dissolve the lower house because of a vote taken in the upper chamber.
The cabinet is due to hold another meeting later Monday to set the date for the election.
Takao Toshikawa, editor of InsideLine, a political newsletter, said Mr Koizumi was convinced he could go to the country and return with a fresh mandate to push his privatisation through.
But the opposition Democratic Party of Japan will see the election as a big chance to seize power for the first time.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock average fell 1 per cent before the vote, but rose immediately after the bill was rejected to 11788.98, up 0.1 per cent on the day.
The bill’s fate was sealed when senior LDP members came out against the privatisation. There were also bitter complaints against Mr Koizumi’s political style, which flies in the face of Japan’s traditional consensus decision-making process.
Kobo Inamura, until his retirement this year a senior executive at Japan Post, said: “The extreme market fundamentalists have received a big blow. There was even the odour of rising dictatorship by the prime minister, threatening the free decision-making at the lower house.”
Opponents of privatisation argue that it would threaten what they say is Japan's most beloved and secure institution. It would also sever a traditional, though unofficial, source of finance and vote-gathering that has helped keep the LDP in almost unbroken power for the half century since it was founded.
Yoshiro Mori, former prime minister and Mr Koizumi’s political mentor, has turned against his protégé in recent days. “The prime minister's stubborn stance makes us feel that we should no longer rely on him to head the government,” he said last week.
LDP heavyweights fear that an election could split the party, with those who voted against privatisation in the lower house facing the possibility of expulsion. Heizo Takenaka, minister in charge of postal reform, said defeat was a "big loss" for the economy. Legislators had voted for big government over the efficiency of the market, he said.
Mr Koizumi has argued that privatising the post office would liberate Y350,000bn ($3,200bn) of savings and insurance premium funds that could be funnelled more efficiently through the private sector. He has also said privatisation would slim down the state by removing one-third of all public employees from government payrolls.
Yay, the free markeeters have been defeated!
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