JAPAN: Senior members of Japan's Liberal Democratic Party were trying desperately yesterday to head off a political crisis that could result if prime minister Junichiro Koizumi carried out his threat to dissolve parliament.
Mr Koizumi has pledged to call a snap election if the LDP does not pass the postal privatisation Bill he considers the centrepiece of his term in office.
LDP elders were pushing for an upper house vote on Monday after successful manoeuvring by opponents of the Bill to have voting put back from today, one of the rare occasions when Japan's super-efficient postal service has been associated with the word "delay".
Anti-privatisation officials said delaying the vote allowed legislators to go home at the weekend to their constituencies where they would pick up on predominantly anti-privatisation sentiment.
Tsutomu Takebe, secretary-general of the LDP, was quoted as saying: "The chances of the Bill passing the upper house are 50-50." Last month, the postal Bill only just squeaked through the powerful lower house. - (Financial Times service)