Japan Press Weekly

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2013 June 12 - 18 TOP3 [ELECTION]

LDP in Okinawa displays confusion over Futenma base relocation

The Okinawa federation of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party branches has been adding another layer of confusion regarding its stance on the U.S. Futenma base relocation issue.

This can be found in campaign posters of an LDP candidate for this summer’s House of Councilors election in the Okinawa constituency.

The posters display a picture of an Upper House election candidate who calls for a transfer of the base outside Okinawa standing with an LDP lawmaker who abandoned his 2012 election promise to move the base to other prefectures.

The lawmaker is Nishime Kozaburo representing the Okinawa No. 4 single-seat constituency. Nishime and other three LDP candidates in single-seat districts won the 2012 general election by pledging to voters to oppose the plan to relocate the base within the prefecture. Four months after the election, Nishime reversed his position and accepted the planned relocation.

Former chair of the Political Local Party of Okinawa, Zukeran Chobin criticized the Okinawa LDP for “insulting voters’ intelligence.” He said, “It is obvious that they will betray Okinawan people.”

LDP headquarters led by Prime Minister Abe Shinzo is putting pressure on Okinawa to accept the relocation of the base to the Henoko district in Nago City.

LDP Secretary General Ishiba Shigeru and Policy Research Council chair Takaichi Sanae requested the prefectural federation to remove the phrase calling for the transfer of the base outside the prefecture from the posters, but the federation said it cannot do so.

One of the local dailies pointed out that the prefectural LDP appears to call for the relocation of the base out of Okinawa in order to win the Upper House election.