Japan Press Weekly

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2012 January 6 - 10 [OKINAWA]

Ginowan mayoral election candidate: Get Futenma base site returned from US

Former Okinawa’s Ginowan City Mayor Iha Yoichi on January 9 at a news conference announced his candidacy as an independent candidate in next month’s mayoral election in order to maintain the city government’s position demanding the closure and return of the U.S. Futenma base and opposing the base relocation within the prefecture.

Before the news conference, Iha signed a basic policy agreement with the Japanese Communist, the Social Democratic, and the Okinawa Social Mass parties as well as with three political groups in the city assembly.

As incumbent mayor Asato Takeshi resigned due to illness, the election will be held on February 12. A Liberal Democratic Party member of the Okinawa Prefectural Assembly also declared his candidacy.

Iha at the news conference said that he plans to go ahead with projects that Asato intended to promote, work to solve the Futenma base issues, and implement policies favoring local industrial promotion and human resource development.

JCP member of the House of Representatives Akamine Seiken stressed that based on his superior performance as the city mayor, Iha has the experience needed to govern the city. Regarding the LDP assemblyman, Iha’s rival, Akamine said, “He should explain to the voters why he has supported the transfer of the Futenma base to Henoko and what it means for him to be a member of a group calling for a constitutional revision.”