Yokosuka residents launch campaign calling for referendum on U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier deployment

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Yokosuka residents launch campaign calling for referendum on U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier deployment

A group of residents in Yokosuka City in Kanagawa Prefecture has launched a campaign calling for a referendum on the planned deployment of a U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to the U.S. Naval Yokosuka Base.

The Association for a Referendum on the Homeporting of a Nuclear-Powered Aircraft Carrier held a news conference at Yokosuka City Hall on October 4, announcing that they will begin a signature-collection campaign to petition the City Assembly as well as the mayor to legislate an ordinance to conduct the referendum.

They said they will collect signatures from more than 7,112 voters (one fiftieth of voters in the city) in one month from mid-November. If the campaign is successful, the Yokosuka City Assembly will discuss a bill for the referendum next year.

Lawyer Goto Masahiko, one of the five co-representatives of the association established on October 1, said, "To start up the signature collecting drive, we will gather more than 1,000 supporters by the end of October."

Stressing that this campaign is to apply the principle of popular sovereignty, another co-representative, former university professor Konnno Hiroshi, said, "I will work hard to boost awareness of residents as participants of sovereignty, enabling them to take part in the city's decision-making."
- Akahata, October 5, 2006