Democratic Party of Japan chief Katsuya Okada selected veteran lawmakers for the party's executive positions Wednesday to restore unity to the main opposition force.
Okada was chosen Tuesday as new DPJ chief following approval from the party's Diet members at a general assembly. He succeeded Naoto Kan, who resigned to take responsibility for having not paid his mandatory premiums into the national pension system.
Okada, 50, selected veteran lawmakers as key party executives, unlike Kan's choice of younger-generation lawmakers.
He appointed Yoshito Sengoku, 58, as chief of the party's policy research committee. Okada had already selected former Finance Minister Hirohisa Fujii, 71, for the No. 2 position of secretary general.
He also selected Tatsuo Kawabata, 59, "shadow Cabinet" member in charge of public affairs, to head the Diet Affairs Committee.
Fujii is a close aide of Ichiro Ozawa, who was earlier tapped to replace Kan but bowed out Monday, saying he, too, had also failed to join the national pension system.
Sengoku successfully returned to the Diet after running on the DPJ ticket in the general election of 1996.