The Liberal Democratic Party faction once led by former Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto chose ex-health minister Yuji Tsushima on Friday as its new chief, ending a leadership vacuum that existed since July 2004 in the wake of a political donation scandal.
The Lower House member is currently the group's secretary general. With the appointment, the LDP's second-largest faction will now be known as the Tsushima faction. The group tapped former Economic Planning Agency chief Hajime Funada, 51, to succeed Tsushima.
Tsushima, 75, will face the difficult task of putting the group, which was once the LDP's largest and most unified, back together despite being tainted by a 100 million yen political funds scandal involving Hashimoto and the Japan Dental Association.