Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto late Sept. 11 reshuffled his Cabinet, retaining three key ministers and giving in to pressure to appoint Koko Sato, a veteran politician convicted of bribery, to the new lineup comprising 20 Liberal Democratic Party members.
Sato, as director general of the Management and Coordination Agency, will now handle administrative reform, Hashimoto's top policy priority. Hashimoto's third Cabinet is the first since World War II to include someone convicted of a serious crime.
Sato's appointment drew fire from all opposition parties as well as the LDP's two non-Cabinet allies, the SDP and New Party Sakigake. "Our chairwoman, Takako Doi, told Prime Minister Hashimoto in person (that Mr. Sato must not be appointed). We regret this appointment," Shigeru Ito, SDP secretary general, said at a news conference.