The Lower House approved on Tuesday the government's appointment of a former top health ministry bureaucrat as a commissioner of the National Personnel Authority, paving the way for him to eventually become its president.

The appointment of former Vice Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare Takeshi Erikawa will likely gain approval from the Upper House, which is also controlled by the Democratic Party of Japan and its coalition partners, at its plenary session Wednesday.

Following endorsement by the two chambers, the government is expected to name Erikawa to fill the vacant post of president.

The body sets working conditions for national bureaucrats and controls other civil service personnel matters.

Appointing a former bureaucrat to the post has met with fierce resistance from the opposition camp, which claims it runs counter to the DPJ's policy of eliminating "amakudari," the corruption-prone practice in which retired bureaucrats land well-paid jobs at corporations in sectors they formerly oversaw.

The government has been in a rush to finalize the appointment of the president because he will have to attend Diet deliberations on a government-proposed bill designed to cut bureaucrats' pay before Dec. 1, when their winter bonuses will be assessed.

The authority's president is usually selected from among three commissioners. The post has been vacant since Masahito Tani stepped down in September.