Yukio Hatoyama, leader of the Democratic Party of Japan and prime minister in waiting, told reporters Thursday he will appoint DPJ acting President Ichiro Ozawa as secretary general, the No. 2 post of the party that now holds an overwhelming majority in the Lower House.
The appointment is expected to further strengthen Ozawa's clout within the party.
Ozawa,67, headed the DPJ's election campaign for Sunday's House of Representatives poll in which the party won more than 300 of the 480 seats in the lower chamber, allowing the DPJ to elect Hatoyama as prime minister in a joint Diet vote scheduled for Sept. 16.