Democratic Party of Japan lawmaker Yukio Edano was appointed the new administrative reform minister Wednesday, as the Hatoyama administration works to clean up the Cabinet's scandal-tainted image.
Edano, 45, was a key figure in the government task force set up late last year that succeeded in trimming ¥677 billion from the previous administration's budget. He is one of the few DPJ lawmakers to have openly criticized DPJ Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa over his dubious political funding.
"In order for the DPJ to regain the public's trust and maintain it, I wanted (Edano) to be in charge (of administrative reform) as soon as possible," Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama told reporters.