ID :
85388
Wed, 10/21/2009 - 11:11
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/85388
The shortlink copeid
Japan Post head Nishikawa to quit as new gov't overhauls privatization
TOKYO, Oct. 20 Kyodo - Japan Post Holdings Co. President Yoshifumi Nishikawa on Tuesday announced his intention to step down from his post amid calls for his resignation from the new government, which adopted a policy earlier in the day to overhaul Japan's
postal privatization once seen as a pillar of free-market reforms.
''There is a big difference between what I have already done and intend to do
for the privatization of the Japan Post group and the new government's
policy,'' Nishikawa said at a packed news conference at Japan Post's
headquarters in Tokyo.
''So, I can no longer remain in my current post...It is not appropriate to
remain,'' he said.
Nishikawa said he will hand in his resignation at Japan Post Holdings' board
meeting on Oct. 28. He declined to comment on his successor, saying it is a
matter that Shizuka Kamei, minister in charge of postal affairs, is expected to
handle.
Kamei, who has repeatedly called for Nishikawa's resignation, said separately
that he will select Nishikawa's successor as soon as possible.
The new policy adopted by the Democratic Party of Japan-led government includes
revoking the current law to privatize Japan Post and reorganizing the group's
structure under which a holding company manages four units.
Given the policy change and the resignation of Nishikawa, who assumed the
leadership role for privatizing the postal entity in 2006 at the request of
then Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, the former premier's key structural
reform initiative has now suffered a major reversal.
Tadamori Oshima, secretary general of the opposition Liberal Democratic Party,
rapped the DPJ-led government's adoption of a new postal policy, saying the
current plan to privatize Japan Post was supported by many voters during the
election in 2005 when the LDP scored a landslide victory.
''We are concerned that the move goes against the privatization that already
went through Diet deliberations,'' he said.
Under its new policy, the government plans to reorganize the Japan Post group
to ensure universal postal services across the country, with the new policy
stipulating that mail and financial services are to be provided in an
integrated manner through the postal network.
Through the policy shift, the new government of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama
aims to offer more stable services to rectify gaps between urban and rural
areas.
Since taking power in mid-September after a general election in August, the
DPJ-led coalition government has been reviewing the privatization plans
implemented under previous administrations led by the LDP, claiming that the
operational quality of the Japan Post group has deteriorated and the current
group structure should be reformed to better serve the public.
''The postal business was largely distorted by the Koizumi reforms and
experienced a major retreat from what it was supposed to be,'' Kamei told a
press conference in the morning.
But Kamei, leader of the People's New Party, which has placed priority on
revising the postal privatization plans advocated by Koizumi as the symbol of
his structural reform drive, said he has no intention of taking the business
back to what it was before the postal reforms were carried out in October 2007.
''We will deal with this as if we are doing a new business,'' the minister said.
The basic policy was endorsed in line with a coalition accord between the DPJ,
the Social Democratic Party and Kamei's party.
Japan began the 10-year process for privatizing state-run postal services in
October 2007, creating four companies providing mail delivery, banking,
insurance and over-the-counter services.
Under the original plan, Japan Post would shift from being wholly owned by the
state to a company in which the government holds a one-third stake and would
sell its stakes in the banking and insurance units so that they could be
listed.
Nishikawa, a former president of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp., took the helm
of Japan Post's predecessor firm, formed in 2006 in preparation for the postal
privatization.
He assumed the presidency of Japan Post in October 2007 at the launch of the
10-year privatization process.
Earlier this year, Nishikawa came under harsh criticism from the DPJ and even
some lawmakers from the then-ruling LDP for a series of scandals including an
aborted attempt to sell the Kampo-no-yado resort inn network, which critics
charged was put up for sale under dubious circumstances.
''There may be some points that I should regret but no wrongdoing occurred,''
Nishikawa said.
Hatoyama's ruling coalition plans to submit a bill to freeze the planned sale
of shares in Japan Post's banking and insurance units during an extraordinary
Diet session to convene from next Monday, a move expected to squash Nishikawa's
plan to have the two units go public on stock markets.
==Kyodo
2009-10-20 23:40:43
postal privatization once seen as a pillar of free-market reforms.
''There is a big difference between what I have already done and intend to do
for the privatization of the Japan Post group and the new government's
policy,'' Nishikawa said at a packed news conference at Japan Post's
headquarters in Tokyo.
''So, I can no longer remain in my current post...It is not appropriate to
remain,'' he said.
Nishikawa said he will hand in his resignation at Japan Post Holdings' board
meeting on Oct. 28. He declined to comment on his successor, saying it is a
matter that Shizuka Kamei, minister in charge of postal affairs, is expected to
handle.
Kamei, who has repeatedly called for Nishikawa's resignation, said separately
that he will select Nishikawa's successor as soon as possible.
The new policy adopted by the Democratic Party of Japan-led government includes
revoking the current law to privatize Japan Post and reorganizing the group's
structure under which a holding company manages four units.
Given the policy change and the resignation of Nishikawa, who assumed the
leadership role for privatizing the postal entity in 2006 at the request of
then Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, the former premier's key structural
reform initiative has now suffered a major reversal.
Tadamori Oshima, secretary general of the opposition Liberal Democratic Party,
rapped the DPJ-led government's adoption of a new postal policy, saying the
current plan to privatize Japan Post was supported by many voters during the
election in 2005 when the LDP scored a landslide victory.
''We are concerned that the move goes against the privatization that already
went through Diet deliberations,'' he said.
Under its new policy, the government plans to reorganize the Japan Post group
to ensure universal postal services across the country, with the new policy
stipulating that mail and financial services are to be provided in an
integrated manner through the postal network.
Through the policy shift, the new government of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama
aims to offer more stable services to rectify gaps between urban and rural
areas.
Since taking power in mid-September after a general election in August, the
DPJ-led coalition government has been reviewing the privatization plans
implemented under previous administrations led by the LDP, claiming that the
operational quality of the Japan Post group has deteriorated and the current
group structure should be reformed to better serve the public.
''The postal business was largely distorted by the Koizumi reforms and
experienced a major retreat from what it was supposed to be,'' Kamei told a
press conference in the morning.
But Kamei, leader of the People's New Party, which has placed priority on
revising the postal privatization plans advocated by Koizumi as the symbol of
his structural reform drive, said he has no intention of taking the business
back to what it was before the postal reforms were carried out in October 2007.
''We will deal with this as if we are doing a new business,'' the minister said.
The basic policy was endorsed in line with a coalition accord between the DPJ,
the Social Democratic Party and Kamei's party.
Japan began the 10-year process for privatizing state-run postal services in
October 2007, creating four companies providing mail delivery, banking,
insurance and over-the-counter services.
Under the original plan, Japan Post would shift from being wholly owned by the
state to a company in which the government holds a one-third stake and would
sell its stakes in the banking and insurance units so that they could be
listed.
Nishikawa, a former president of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp., took the helm
of Japan Post's predecessor firm, formed in 2006 in preparation for the postal
privatization.
He assumed the presidency of Japan Post in October 2007 at the launch of the
10-year privatization process.
Earlier this year, Nishikawa came under harsh criticism from the DPJ and even
some lawmakers from the then-ruling LDP for a series of scandals including an
aborted attempt to sell the Kampo-no-yado resort inn network, which critics
charged was put up for sale under dubious circumstances.
''There may be some points that I should regret but no wrongdoing occurred,''
Nishikawa said.
Hatoyama's ruling coalition plans to submit a bill to freeze the planned sale
of shares in Japan Post's banking and insurance units during an extraordinary
Diet session to convene from next Monday, a move expected to squash Nishikawa's
plan to have the two units go public on stock markets.
==Kyodo
2009-10-20 23:40:43
