Koizumi vows more reforms

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi (C) and his cabinet members Shoichi Nakagawa (L), Economy, Trade and Industry Minister and Sadakazu Tanigaki (R), Finance Minister pose for photographers after they attesting before Emperor Akihito at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo yesterday. PHOTO: AFP

Koizumi, fresh from a campaign he waged on breaking up Japan Post, said his government would also set its sights on other reforms including decentralization of power and changes to the tax system.

"There is no end to reforms," Koizumi said after parliament convened for a 42-day special session and promptly re-elected him in a party-line vote.

"First, we will work for the legislature to pass the postal reforms," Koizumi told a press conference. "Then, we will press forward on our principles to privatize what can be privatized and decentralize what can be done by local authorities."

Japan Post is the world's biggest financial institution with three trillion dollars in savings and insurance assets. The premier cast privatizing the politically powerful institution as a litmus test for reform after calling the September 11 snap election.