Tokyo, Sept 10, SPA -- Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi urged votersto back the privatization of Japan's postal service while his rival attacked the plan Saturday, wrapping up a dramatic campaign for parliamentary elections expected to deliver victory to the ruling party. The ballot Sunday for the 480-seat lower house ofparliament was widely seen just the way Koizumi wanted it:as a referendum for his project to split up and sell JapanPost's mail, insurance and savings services, creating theworld's largest private bank. "Are public employees the only ones who can take care ofimportant jobs?" Koizumi thundered to a crowd at a Tokyotrain station. "Privatization of the postal service is thebest way to cut down on the number of civil servants inJapan." In another part of the city, his main rival, KatsuyaOkada, the leader of the opposition Democratic Party ofJapan, drove home his message that the country has morepressing concerns than the postal service. "Japan faces problems of decreasing of population, agingsociety and increasing of national debts," Okada was quoted as saying by The Associated Press. "Mr. Koizumi sounds as if life will be all rosy if the postal service is privatized, but no one takes what hesays seriously." Opinion polls throughout the campaign showed Koizumi withrising support since he dissolved the powerful lower houseon Aug. 8 and called snap elections after his postalprivatization plan was torpedoed in the upper house. The Asahi newspaper Saturday showed 42 percent ofrespondents wanted Koizumi to continue as prime minister,while only 17 supported an Okada-led government. The papersurveyed 1,031 people by phone on Thursday and Friday.--SPA1133 Local Time 0833 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/288272