Antibase Forces Keep Majority in Nago Assembly Poll

September 10, 2018

Nago, Okinawa Pref.- Forces opposing the construction of a new U.S. military base in Nago maintained a majority in Sunday's assembly election in the city in Okinawa Prefecture.

But it was a very close election in which the ruling camp supporting Mayor Taketoyo Toguchi and the opposition side won the same number of seats.

Campaigns are expected to heat up for the Sept. 30 Okinawa gubernatorial election following the recent death of Governor Takeshi Onaga. He opposed the plan to build the base in Nago's Henoko district to transfer the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma air station in Ginowan, also Okinawa.

In Sunday's election, the 26 seats of the Nago assembly were equally split between the ruling side and the antibase opposition camp. But two of the ruling camp's 13 seats were won by candidates of Komeito's local organization, which rejects the base project.

Before the election, the assembly had 27 seats. The ruling side held 13 seats and the opposition camp 14 seats.

Voter turnout fell to a record low of 65.04 pct from 70.40 pct in the previous election.

In election campaigns, opposition candidates vowed to promote the development of Nago without relying on benefits from U.S. military bases.

Meanwhile, ruling-camp candidates did not discuss the base issue. They said they will aim to increase incomes of local citizens through economic promotion.

In the mayoral election in February, Toguchi, supported mainly by the government and the Liberal Democratic Party, defeated incumbent Susumu Inamine, who sought another term to block the base plan.

Now that the ruling and opposition camps won the same number of seats in the assembly, they are expected to wage a fierce battle for leadership. Jiji Press