Japan Press Weekly

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2012 November 7 - 13 [OKINAWA]

Joint progressive candidate outvoted in mayoral election in Okinawa

Candidate Murayama Jun, backed by the Japanese Communist Party, the Social Democratic Party and the Political Local Party of Okinawa, was unsuccessful in his bid to win the November 11 mayoral election for Naha, Okinawa’s capital city.

Murayama obtained 20,783 votes or 21.6% of total votes. Incumbent mayor Onaga Takeshi was returned with the support of the Democratic Party of Japan, the Liberal Democratic and Komei parties. The voter turnout decreased to 39.43% from previous 53.06%, the second lowest ever.

Murayama is the JCP Okinawa prefectural committee acting chair and was regarded as the joint progressive candidate. He fought the election against Onaga, the first candidate for the heads of local governments in Okinawa backed by the three conservative parties.

The election was conducted not long after the forcible deployment of U.S. Ospreys to Okinawa and a series of U.S. servicemen’s crimes. In the campaign race, Murayama urged that in order to remove all the U.S. bases from Okinawa, the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty should be abolished and replaced by a treaty of friendship.

He also pledged to reduce the national health insurance tax, take measures to increase job opportunities, and to stop the close-and-merge plan for Kumoji elementary school.

The JCP prefectural committee on November 12 issued the following comment regarding the election result:

We have backed the mayoral election with Murayama as a joint progressive candidate. This experience will contribute to increasing the solidarity among progressive and democratic forces in Okinawa.

The JCP will do our utmost to promote the prefecture-wide movements to remove all the U.S. bases from the prefecture and abrogate the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty.

Related past articles
> Anti-US base candidate challenges incumbent mayor in Okinawa [November 5, 2012]