November 21, 2008 (LPAC) -- Japan's Prime Minister Taro Aso has given his support for a bill now before the Diet mandating a freeze on the privatization of the Japan Postal Bank. This privatization was the work of neo-con Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who ruled from 2001-06. The Postal Savings Bank, the largest savings bank in the world, served as a means for government direction of most of the population's savings into infrastructure and general welfare policies -- a reflection of the American System policies that dominated post-war Japan's economy. Koizumi rammed through the break-up of the bank, with a plan to begin selling off the government shares in the banking and insurance divisions this year.

The bill which passed the upper house of the Diet and is now before the lower house calls for freezing the process because of the miserable market conditions. The government says it is not trying to reverse the privatization altogether, but the Japanese press reports make clear that if the freeze is implemented, then the massive opposition to the privatization in Japan will be given a new life to overturn it. Kyodo News says the freeze "could lead to a review of the privatization process," noting that reversing the privatization would be very popular, and help the ruling LDP in the elections which are expected soon.