Anti-U.S. Base Naha Mayor Shiroma Reelected

October 22, 2018

Naha, Okinawa Pref.- Naha Mayor Mikiko Shiroma, who rejects a plan to build a new U.S. military base in the Henoko district of Nago, Okinawa Prefecture, was reelected in Sunday's ballot.

Shiroma, a 67-year-old independent, garnered 79,677 votes, far over 42,446 votes collected by her contender, Masatoshi Onaga, 69, a former Okinawa prefectural assembly member.

Shiroma was backed by the so-called All Okinawa camp including new Governor Denny Tamaki, which opposes the plan to relocate the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma air station in Okinawa's Ginowan to the new facility in Henoko.

Meanwhile, Onaga, also an independent, was supported by the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito, the ruling parties in the national politics, as well as by two opposition parties.

The election result represented another loss to the LDP-Komeito pair in Okinawa, following the gubernatorial poll last month and the mayoral election in Tomigusuku this month.

Voter turnout fell to 48.19 pct from 65.25 pct in the previous mayoral election in the capital of the southernmost prefecture.

Shiroma, supported mainly by the Japanese Communist Party and the Social Democratic Party, underscored her achievements during her first four-year term.

She won voters' support by promising to work closely with Tamaki over the base issue and expand assistance mainly to child-rearing families and elderly citizens.

Onaga promised to revamp the Naha government and proposed a program to make school meal services free of charge and measures to improve residents' living standards.

Shiroma told reporters that her victory in the election will give a powerful tailwind to the prefectural government led by Tamaki. Jiji Press