With little time to lose, Shigeru Ishiba, Japan's soon-to-be-prime minister, has begun looking to fill key posts in his administration after he was elected president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Friday.

The veteran lawmaker — who will be become prime minister next week after a parliamentary vote — got down to business quickly on Saturday, with NHK reporting that he had decided to keep Yoshimasa Hayashi on as chief cabinet secretary and appoint former farm minister Hiroshi Moriyama as the LDP's secretary-general.

Ishiba is also set to appoint Shinjiro Koizumi, who finished third in the first round of voting on Friday, as chair of the party's Election Strategy Committee.