TOKYO - Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) on Thursday named former economy minister Yasutoshi Nishimura, who was implicated in a slush fund scandal, as its election strategy chief, local media reported.

It marks the first time since the high-profile scandal surfaced in late 2023 that the LDP has tapped a lawmaker linked to it for one of the party's four key posts, Kyodo News reported.

The appointment followed the Feb 8 general election, in which the LDP under Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi endorsed a total of 43 candidates with ties to the scandal.

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Under the previous Shigeru Ishiba administration, the LDP withheld its backing for members connected to the scandal who faced severe disciplinary measures in the 2024 lower house election amid intense public pressure.

The slush fund scandal, in which LDP lawmakers accumulated large sums from fundraising parties that were not reported, rocked the ruling party, fueled public distrust and resulted in the party's poor performances in the previous two national elections in 2024 and 2025.

Nishimura, 63, was disciplined in April 2024 with a one-year suspension of his LDP membership. He once belonged to a now-defunct intraparty faction formerly led by former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, which was embroiled heavily in the damaging scandal, the report said.

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Takaichi has already stirred controversy and drawn criticism by giving the post of executive acting secretary general to Koichi Hagiuda, a heavyweight lawmaker involved in the scandal and a former close confidant of Abe, after she won the LDP presidential election in October.

The other three key LDP posts of secretary general, general council head and chief policymaker will continue to be held by Shunichi Suzuki, Haruko Arimura and Takayuki Kobayashi, respectively, Kyodo News said.