Japan Press Weekly

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2015 March 25 - 31 [POLITICS]

Parliamentarians from Okinawa protest against defense bureau’s complaint against governor

Anti-base parliamentarians elected from Okinawa on March 28 issued a statement condemning the Okinawa Defense Bureau for trying to refuse the Okinawa governor’s order to stop construction work of a new U.S. base at Nago’s Henoko district.

The statement was jointly made by independent member of the House of Councilors Itokazu Keiko and three members of the House of Representatives, Akamine Seiken (Japanese Communist Party), Tamaki Denny (The People's Life Party & Taro Yamamoto and Friends), and Nakasato Toshinobu (independent).

On March 23, Okinawa Governor Onaga Takeshi ordered the bureau to halt all its ongoing preparation work for the planned U.S. base in Henoko within a week. The defense authority, however, filed to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries applications for the annulment and the suspension of the governor’s order based on the Administrative Complaint Investigation Law.

The statement criticizes the defense authority for abusing the law designed to protect people’s rights. It encourages Governor Onaga to retract the prefecture’s approval to reclaim land for the construction of the new base as the defense bureau unjustly keeps refusing to follow the governor’s order.

Past related article:
> Okinawa governor again orders state to stop work on US base construction [March 24, 2015]