A day after reshuffling his Cabinet, Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori on Wednesday appointed 22 parliamentary vice ministers who will assist his Cabinet ministers.
These vice ministers are to assume the enhanced position of state secretaries when the government realignment of agencies and ministries takes effect Jan. 6.
Unlike parliamentary vice ministers under the current system, the new state secretaries will be incorporated into the decision-making process of each government entity and also be granted the power to act on behalf of ministers.
The creation of this new position is designed to strengthen the Cabinet's power over the bureaucracy.
The planned regrouping will reduce the number of government entities from 23 to 13, some of which will have two state secretaries.
Of the 22 vice ministers, 18 politicians are from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, three from junior coalition partner New Komeito and one from the New Conservative Party, the other ally in the tripartite coalition.
Among the 22 are Seishiro Eto, a former Defense Agency chief who was appointed one of the two parliamentary vice ministers of the Foreign Ministry, and Naoki Tanaka -- husband of outspoken and popular lawmaker Makiko Tanaka -- who was named one of the two parliamentary vice ministers of the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry.
While parliamentary vice ministers are appointed by the prime minister, state secretaries will be sworn into their posts in an attestation ceremony. The 22 vice ministers are expected to attend the ceremony at the Imperial Palace on Jan. 6.
By the end of the year, 26 more lawmakers and private-sector experts are to be appointed as parliamentary secretaries to assist the Cabinet ministers and the state secretaries. In total, up to 65 Diet members will take up governmental posts, placing politicians in a stronger position in decision-making -- at least on paper.