JAPAN: Japanese Prime Minister Mr Junichiro Koizumi gave a strong signal that he intends to push ahead with his controversial plan to privatise the country's huge post office in yesterday's cabinet reshuffle, but otherwise sprung few surprises on a largely indifferent public.
In his third reshuffle since becoming Prime Minister in April 2001, Mr Koizumi appointed Mr Tsutomu Takebe, a strong supporter of postal privatisation, as secretary general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), Japan's second-highest political job.
The Japanese post office is effectively the world's largest bank, with savings of around $300 billion. Its privatisation has long been opposed by conservatives within Mr Koizumi's own party who rely on the enormous largesse it provides to fund lucrative public service contracts and win votes.
Mr Takebe said he was told by the Prime Minister to devote himself to "postal privatisation and other issues by deepening communications within the party", a sign that with two years left in office Mr Koizumi is preparing a showdown with the anti-privatisation faction.
Mr Takebe replaced Mr Shinzo Abe, who had leveraged himself into position as cabinet chief with a hawkish stance against Japan's unpredictable neighbour, North Korea. Mr Koizumi was reluctant to lose the popular Mr Abe, who is widely thought to have left to prepare his own bid for the top political job in 2006.