May 30, 2020
Campaigning for the Okinawa Prefectural Assembly election officially started on May 29. This is the first assembly election under Governor Tamaki Denny, who has been working non-stop to block the U.S. base construction in the Henoko district, gaining majority support from assemblypersons. If anti-base forces win a majority again, it will be another blow to the national government’s plan to push forward with the construction project.
The voting day is June 7 and 64 candidates are running for 48 seats from 13 electoral districts.
The Japanese Communist Party put up seven candidates for the election, including five incumbents with campaign pledges to oppose the Henoko base project. The party seeks to increase the number of its seats in the assembly from the pre-election strength of six to a record high of seven. It also resolves to work hard to enable the anti-base “All Okinawa” forces to secure a majority in the assembly.
The prefectural body of the Liberal Democratic Party in its election platform announced its support for the U.S. base construction. On the campaign kick-off day, however, LDP candidates in their street speeches said almost nothing about the controversial Henoko base project. This shows that they know that most voters do not support the U.S. base construction.
The seven JCP candidates in their street speeches called on voters to support them by saying that it is necessary to cancel the U.S. base construction project which is estimated to cost 2.6 trillion yen to complete and instead use taxpayers’ money for measures to combat the coronavirus crisis and restore people’s lives and businesses.
Governor Tamaki on the kick-off day in Okinawa City joined in the street speeches of JCP candidate Shimabuku Keisuke. Tamaki stressed that he has been able to compile a supplementary budget to deal with COVID-19 thanks to the majority support from the prefectural assembly. He called on voters to support the JCP and other pro-governor candidates so that they can obtain as many seats as possible in the assembly.
Past related articles:
> Anti-base ‘All Okinawa’ candidate beats LDP rival in Lower House by-election [ April 22, 2019]
> Abe gov't makes mockery of Okinawa's election result: JCP Koike [ October 2, 2018]
The voting day is June 7 and 64 candidates are running for 48 seats from 13 electoral districts.
The Japanese Communist Party put up seven candidates for the election, including five incumbents with campaign pledges to oppose the Henoko base project. The party seeks to increase the number of its seats in the assembly from the pre-election strength of six to a record high of seven. It also resolves to work hard to enable the anti-base “All Okinawa” forces to secure a majority in the assembly.
The prefectural body of the Liberal Democratic Party in its election platform announced its support for the U.S. base construction. On the campaign kick-off day, however, LDP candidates in their street speeches said almost nothing about the controversial Henoko base project. This shows that they know that most voters do not support the U.S. base construction.
The seven JCP candidates in their street speeches called on voters to support them by saying that it is necessary to cancel the U.S. base construction project which is estimated to cost 2.6 trillion yen to complete and instead use taxpayers’ money for measures to combat the coronavirus crisis and restore people’s lives and businesses.
Governor Tamaki on the kick-off day in Okinawa City joined in the street speeches of JCP candidate Shimabuku Keisuke. Tamaki stressed that he has been able to compile a supplementary budget to deal with COVID-19 thanks to the majority support from the prefectural assembly. He called on voters to support the JCP and other pro-governor candidates so that they can obtain as many seats as possible in the assembly.
Past related articles:
> Anti-base ‘All Okinawa’ candidate beats LDP rival in Lower House by-election [ April 22, 2019]
> Abe gov't makes mockery of Okinawa's election result: JCP Koike [ October 2, 2018]
