Lawmakers in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party say Yukio Hatoyama's election as president of the Democratic Party of Japan will disappoint the public because he will still be influenced by Ichiro Ozawa, the scandal-tainted DPJ chief he is replacing.

In the opposition camp, meanwhile, lawmakers expressed hope their cooperation with the DPJ will grow stronger under Hatoyama while urging the main opposition party to fulfill its responsibility by fully explaining Ozawa's fundraising scandal.

Noting that Hatoyama has said he will give an important post to Ozawa, Hideaki Omura, senior vice minister of health, labor and welfare, charged that the new DPJ leadership "will be nothing but a puppet regime of Mr. Ozawa."

He suggested that Hatoyama's rival in the DPJ election, Katsuya Okada, would have made a tougher opponent for the LDP in the upcoming national election. "The public must have expected the DPJ to change 'the Ozawa line,' " Omura said.

Fellow LDP Lower House member Jiro Ono agreed Hatoyama will be easier than Okada to fight against in the general election as the new DPJ leadership will be under the shadow of Ozawa.