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2014 November 12 - 18 TOP3 [POLITICS]

Anti-base candidate’s victory in Okinawa governor race delivers blow to Abe

In the Okinawa gubernatorial election held on November 16, an opponent of the planned U.S. base construction beat by a large margin the incumbent who is pushing the construction plan along with Prime Minister Abe Shinzo. This will deal a heavy blow to the Abe government.

The key issue in the election campaign was about whether or not a new U.S. base should be constructed in Nago’s Henoko district in the prefecture. Okinawans chose a governor who represents the interests of both progressives and conservatives.

Former Naha City Mayor Onaga Takeshi obtained more than 360,000 votes, exceeding his main rival, Nakaima Hirokazu, by nearly 100,000 votes. Nakaima was the governor who approved the reclamation work at Henoko in preparation for the base construction. The voter turnout rate stood at 64.13%.

During the campaign, Onaga argued that the presence of U.S. bases in Okinawa is the chief obstacle to the sustainable development of the local economy. Pledging to work to create a peaceful and prosperous Okinawa, Onaga attracted support from both progressive and conservative voters.

On the other hand, Nakaima stressed that the national government promised to provide economic stimulus measures to Okinawa in exchange for the acceptance of a new base. The government and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party offered all-out support to Nakaima by sending party heavyweights to endorse him in his election campaign, including Chief Cabinet Secretary Suga Yoshihide and Secretary General Tanigaki Sadakazu. Aiming to split Onaga’s supporters, the Nakaima side spread anti-communist rumors.

After his victory was confirmed, Onaga told the press that he will work to retract the approval of the reclamation work at Henoko.

In the Naha City mayoral election held on the same day, former Vice Mayor Shiroma Mikiko defeated a candidate backed by the LDP and the Komei Party. “I obtained support from voters by opposing the new military base along with Onaga,” Shiroma commented.

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Onaga’s landslide victory reflected Okinawan people’s grave concern over the plan to construct a new U.S. base in the Henoko district. An exit poll by a local paper showed that more than 60% of respondents said that they attached importance to U.S. Futenma base relocation issue. In other recent opinion poll results, 70-80% of respondents opposed the relocation of the Futenma base to Henoko.

The number of votes Nakaima obtained decreased by 75,000 from the previous election four years ago in which he was elected following his campaign promise to object to a new U.S. base in Henoko.

Past related article:
> Anti-base candidate Onaga starts election campaign for Okinawa governor [October 31, 2014]