The Liberal Democratic Party's biggest faction is apparently regaining unity after a bitter split during the party's presidential election.

In the Sept. 20 race, the Hashimoto faction was divided between its House of Councilors members -- led by Mikio Aoki, who supported Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's re-election -- and those who backed fellow faction member Takao Fujii's bid for party chief.

At one point, Hiromu Nonaka, former LDP secretary general and one of the most vocal opponents of Koizumi within the party, harshly denounced the moves of Aoki and his allies to team up with the prime minister.

But when the Diet convened Wednesday for a special session following the Nov. 9 general election, faction leaders who addressed the group's meeting at a Tokyo hotel did not touch on the confrontation that split the group just two months ago.

In the House of Representatives election, the faction saw its strength in the chamber fall to 50 seats from 57. The faction, headed by former Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto, was founded by the late Prime Minister Noboru Takeshita in the 1980s. It once dominated party affairs and maintained iron-clad unity among its members.

Nonaka did not seek re-election in the general election and retired from national politics. Some veteran lawmakers, including former Chief Cabinet Secretary Kanezo Muraoka, who joined Aoki in voting for Koizumi in September, lost their Lower House seats.

A senior member of the faction said the group, which has seen its clout within the party decline, cannot afford to remain divided.

After the general election, the LDP leadership also appointed some of the Koizumi opponents in the Hashimoto faction to key positions. Takashi Sasagawa was named chairman of the Lower House Budget Committee, and Yuji Tsushima became head of the LDP's tax panel.

"We no longer have much reason to complain because lawmakers who supported Fujii (in the September race) were given appropriate positions," a senior member of the faction said.

It is widely speculated that the appointment of Sasagawa and Tsushima were made possible after Aoki approached Koizumi and his aides, in an apparent attempt to appease the Koizumi opponents within the faction.

Political pundits say the move suggests that Aoki will play an increasingly dominant role within the faction.