"There will probably need to be some work to be done to reconcile the Parliament and the ministers' positions," said one union diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Mr Abe moved quickly to fill the ministers' positions, telling reporters that he had picked the Harvard-educated Yoichi Miyazawa, 64, a former vice-Economics Minister and the nephew of the late Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa, to replace Ms Obuchi.
The Government currently rolls responsibility for mental health into a junior care minister position.
The current president, Óscar Berger, offered him the health minister position last year after Dr. Espada helped negotiate an end to a doctors' strike.
The Constitution, which many Kenyans contend needs revision anyway because it gives the president too much power, does not authorize a prime minister position.
Ironically, the constitutional changes Saakashvili enacted, which paved the way for him to assume new executive powers in the enhanced prime minister position when his second and final term as president expires next year, will now enhance Ivanishvili's political influence.
He told a meeting of his Ulster Unionist party that he would keep his pledge, made last month, that unless the I.R.A. acted to disarm by July 1, he would resign his first minister position.
Letta noted that D'Alema's prickliness and "smartest guy in the room" demeanor made dealing with him a chore, but acknowledged his judgment and political effectiveness, which was why Berlusconi backed him for the EU Foreign Minister position despite their differences.
(Although Italy's complicated political system provides more power to the prime minister position, the presidency can still exert considerable influence).
It was thought that some of the committee's policy proposals could be undesirable to Bratteli, and thereby compromise his minister position.
