Liberal Democratic Party President Shinzo Abe appointed experienced politicians to top party posts Monday, aiming to boost cooperation among junior and veteran LDP lawmakers to prepare for next summer's Upper House election.</PARAGRAPH> <PHOTO> <TABLE WIDTH='250' ALIGN='RIGHT' BORDER='0'> <TR> <TD><IMG ALT='News photo' BORDER='0' SRC='../images/photos2006/nn20060926a1a.jpg' WIDTH='250' HEIGHT='143'/></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><FONT SIZE='1'><B>Liberal Democratic Party President Shinzo Abe –

joins other LDP leaders in a show of unity after appointing Hidenao Nakagawa (third from left) as secretary general, Yuya Niwa (second from left) as chairman of the Executive Council and Shoichi Nakagawa (third from right) as chairman of the Policy Research Council. KYODO PHOTO

The House of Councilors race is expected to pose a serious challenge to the LDP.