PM urged to negotiate with U.S. for unconditional withdrawal of Futenma base

Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo held talks with Prime Minister Hatoyama Yukio on December 14 and urged the government to start negotiations with the U.S. government for the closure of the U.S. Marine Corps Futenma Air Station in Okinawa instead of seeking to resolve the issue by ‘relocating’ the base within Okinawa.

Business circles laid groundwork for construction of authoritarian state

The new government is now pushing ahead with various reactionary policies such as “integrating the cabinet and ruling parties” and the “banning of bureaucrats from participating in Diet discussions” on the pretext of the need to have politicians take the initiatives, apparently in line with business circles interests.