Japan PM buoyed by opinion poll

Junichiro Koizumi wants the public to decide on his reforms

An opinion poll in Japan suggests that support for Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has risen since July.

The news will give him a welcome boost after he called early elections on Monday, after a bill on which he had staked his reputation was defeated.

The telephone poll, taken by Kyodo news agency soon after Mr Koizumi dissolved parliament, put the prime minister's approval rating at 47.3%.

The previous survey, in July, gave him 42.6% support.

Mr Koizumi called snap elections on Monday after his landmark proposals to reform the country's huge postal system were defeated in Japan's upper house.

The prime minister has vowed to purge his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) of opponents to the bill before the 11 September election, and to resign as party leader if his coalition does not win a majority.

Mr Koizumi said next month's poll would be a public referendum on the reforms.

"I believe many Japanese people will vote for postal privatisation in the upcoming elections," he told reporters on Tuesday.

Again he will be buoyed by Tuesday's Kyodo survey, which showed 51.6% of respondents supporting the privatisation, compared to 31.1% who opposed it.

But the LDP is not the only party keen to talk up reforms. The main opposition Democratic Party (DPJ) is also eager to cast itself as a forward-looking party ahead of the poll.

"Koizumi's 'reforms' have ended as empty promises," the DPJ said in a statement late on Monday. "The Democratic Party will implement true reforms sought by the people."

Public sector monolith

The prime minister had made post office privatisation the cornerstone of the economic reforms he has pursued since taking office in 2001.

Mr Koizumi had previously said he would step down next year

Proponents of the reforms say they are urgently needed to put the postal service's massive deposits into the hands of private investors and provide an impetus to the economy.

But the plans were opposed by many, who feared they would lead to a poorer postal services.

Opponents also said the reforms would lead to many job losses in rural communities.

Japan Post is a huge organisation, which has about 25,000 post offices nationwide, which all sell the system's savings and insurance products, as well as regular postal services.

The package of six bills proposed that Japan Post became privatised by 2017, and divided into private companies handling mail delivery, banking and insurance.