Japan's Parliament re-elected Junichiro Koizumi as prime minister on Wednesday following the ruling coalition's landslide electoral victory last week, and he pledged to plow ahead with privatization of the postal service and other reforms. The 480-member lower house, which the ruling coalition controls with a two-thirds majority, cast 340 votes to re-elect Koizumi as prime minister. The upper house then quickly also voted in favor of the silver-haired leader, The Associated Press reported. "There will be no end to reforms. Our task now is to create a strong foundation conducive to furthering reforms," Koizumi said in a nationally televised news conference after the vote. The Cabinet resigned en masse earlier Wednesday to pave the way for the convening of a special session of Parliament, which was scheduled to last for 42 days, until Nov. 1. Koizumi reappointed the same Cabinet after his confirmation as premier.
