Okinawa Governor Election Set for Sept. 30

August 13, 2018

Tokyo- The election board of Okinawa Prefecture decided Monday to hold a gubernatorial election on Sept. 30 to select the successor to the late Governor Takeshi Onaga.

The official campaign period for the election will start on Sept. 13.

The board fixed the campaign and voting schedules at an extraordinary meeting.

The focus of the race for governor will be the planned relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma air station in a congested area of Ginowan, Okinawa, to the Henoko coastal area of Nago, another Okinawa city, pundits said.

Onaga, who died of pancreas cancer on Wednesday at the age of 67, had led opposition to the Futenma transfer within the southernmost Japan prefecture, demanding that the base be moved out of the prefecture altogether.

With the gubernatorial election date now set, forces opposing the Futenma relocation who backed Onaga, as well as the Japanese government and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, which both promote the transfer, are expected to accelerate preparations for the closely watched election.

The forces opposing the relocation aim to field a candidate who will follow in Onaga's footsteps and to rebuild a so-called "All Okinawa" coalition in a bid to block the base transfer.

Informed sources said that possible candidates include Okinawa Vice Governor Kiichiro Jahana, Mikiko Shiroma, mayor of Naha, the prefecture's capital, and Morimasa Goya, chairman of major Okinawa retailer and construction company Kanehide Group Co.

The LDP's Okinawa prefectural chapter has already asked Ginowan Mayor Atsushi Sakima to run in the gubernatorial election. Sakima is expected to announce his candidacy shortly.

With the LDP set to hold its presidential election in September, some members are concerned that the party may not be able to provide enough support for Sakima in the governor race, sources familiar with the situation said.

The public offices election law stipulates that if a prefectural governor dies, a gubernatorial election must be held within 50 days of the death notification to the prefecture's election board. The Okinawa election had been planned for November in line with the expiration of Onaga's first four-year term. Jiji Press