Hashimoto Names New Cabinet

Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto reshuffled his Cabinet after his reelection as leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, giving a major post to a lawmaker convicted of taking bribes. His Cabinet choices signaled no major policy changes and include mostly veteran lawmakers whose task will be to continue the administrative and fiscal reforms that he has made his government’s main priority. But the appointment of Koko Sato, convicted in the 1980s of taking bribes from Lockheed Corp., riled opposition party leaders. Hashimoto made Sato head of the Management and Coordination Agency, responsible for the government’s reform policies.