Photo/Illutration Leader Yoshihiko Noda responds to reporters after a special conference of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan in Tokyo’s Minato Ward on Sept. 23. (Kotaro Ebara)

Yoshihiko Noda, the new president of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, appointed two younger lawmakers to the party’s executive lineup on Sept. 24 in an apparent attempt for renewal.

The appointments were approved at a general meeting of the CDP caucus in the afternoon.

Junya Ogawa, 53, former chairman of the CDP’s Policy Research Committee, was named party secretary-general.

Lower House member Kazuhiko Shigetoku, also 53, was named chairman of the Policy Research Committee.

Meanwhile, Hirofumi Ryu, 59, senior deputy chairman of the Diet Affairs Committee, was named chairman of the committee.

Ogawa and Shigetoku are considered key representatives of mid-career and younger generations of the CDP.

Noda also appointed three executive deputy presidents, including Kiyomi Tsujimoto, 64, who remains in her position.

The other two were Akira Nagatsuma, 64, who will be tranferred from chairman of the Policy Research Committee, and Hiroshi Ogushi, 59, who also retains his post as chairman of the Election Strategy Committee.

Makiko Kikuta, 54, a former parliamentary vice minister for foreign affairs, was appointed chair of the party’s Board Meetings.

Ogawa, Shigetoku and Ryu all voted for Noda in the party’s leadership election on Sept. 23. In the runoff, 72 party lawmakers voted for Noda, 67, while 63 picked former CDP leader Yukio Edano, 60.

Tsujimoto and Nagatsuma were the only lawmakers close to Edano who were given senior positions in the new executive lineup of the CDP, despite the close vote.

After being elected leader, Noda said: “From today, there are no sides. All party members will do our best to regain political power together.”

(This article was written by Nozomi Matsui and Takahiro Okubo.)

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