Japan Press Weekly

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2018 October 31 - November 6 TOP3 [POLITICS]

Opposition parties rally in protest against Land Minister’s decision to give OK to Henoko landfill

Five opposition parties, including the Japanese Communist Party, and a parliamentary group on October 30 held a rally in the Diet building in protest against the Land Minister’s decision to issue an injunction against the Okinawa prefectural government’s revocation of the Henoko landfill approval.

Okinawa Vice Governor Jahana Kiichiro joined in the rally and said that the Land Minister’s decision is totally unfair and unacceptable and thus Okinawans will unite to fight against the tyranny of the Abe government.

Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan Diet affairs chief Tsujimoto Kiyomi reported that Chief Cabinet Secretary Suga Yoshihide refused to meet with Diet affairs heads of the five opposition parties and the parliamentary group, saying, “This represents the government stance to shut its ears to Okinawans and parliamentarians opposing the Henoko base project.”

JCP Diet Policy Commission Chair Kokuta Keiji said that as the Abe government is being driven into a corner, it is adopting hardline posture. He went on to say, “In response to the Abe administration’s confrontational attitude toward Okinawans, the opposition forces have strengthened their unity. We will firmly stand against the Abe government.”

Meanwhile, in Okinawa, anti-base citizens’ outcries against the Land Minister’s injunction resounded near the gate of the Okinawa Defense Bureau. The protesters shouted in chorus, “Respect Okinawans’ objection!” “Don’t resume the Henoko landfill work!” Representatives of the protesters handed over to a bureau official a written request that the continued attack against the prefectural government be stopped.

A woman from Okinawa City said, “We expressed our overwhelming opposition to the base construction in the gubernatorial election. However, the national government abused and misused the legal system in order to bulldoze through the Henoko project. It seems to me that Japan is no longer a law-governed country. We, Okinawans, refuse to give in to the Abe administration.”

Past related articles:
> State launches attack on Okinawa’s revocation of Henoko landfill approval [October 18, 2018]
> Okinawa governor criticizes filing of complaint against revocation of approval for Henoko landfill [October 18, 2018]