Okinawa Prefecture popular poll 2019
The referendum on the land reclamation planned by the state to build a US air force base planned to replace the Futenma military airfield in the Henoko district of the city of Nago ( 普天 間 飛行 場 の 代替 施 設 と し て 国 が 名 護 市 辺 の 古 軍 計画 計画 米 て いた め の 埋 立 て に 対 す る 賛 否 に つ い て の 県 民 に よ る 投票 Futenma hikōjō no daitai shisetsu to shite kuni ga Nago-shi Henoko ni keikaku shite iru was found at yunpi-ni-kensetsu no tuite . february 2019 in the Japan belonging Okinawa Prefecture instead.
The non-binding referendum was initiated by the governor of Okinawa Prefecture, Denny Tamaki , who was elected in September 2018 and was intended to illustrate the mood in Okinawa regarding a planned construction of a new US air force base in the prefecture by the central government .
prehistory
The relationship between the residents of Okinawa Prefecture and the United States , which the site until 1972 occupied , and the Japanese central government is due to the numerous United States Marine Corps tense on the island for decades -Stützpunkte. With the peace treaty of San Francisco in 1951 the USA and Japan agreed to end the occupation, but the Ryūkyū Islands , including Okinawa, remained under US control. In connection with the peace treaty, large parts of the local population accused of a trade, according to which the islands were ceded to the USA and Japan was given independence in return. Approximately 70% of Japan's US bases are now in Okinawa Prefecture and 15% of the area of Okinawa Main Island is owned by US forces. Since many residents of Okinawa feel disadvantaged by these circumstances, the battle for Okinawa with 122,000 civilians killed, several cases of rape of residents by US soldiers and the long period of occupation compared to the rest of Japan, the government-planned construction of a new military airfield on the coast hits in Nago since 1996 on resistance. This year, the US and Japanese governments agreed on the project to close the Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Ginowan , which is located in the immediate vicinity , and is often referred to as "the most dangerous base in the world".
A referendum in 1996 had already shown that the majority of voters supported the withdrawal of US bases from Okinawa. In addition, a survey in Nago in 1997 showed that the majority are against the construction of the new airfield. Since then, Okinawa Prefecture had rejected the new base until the then- LDP Governor Hirokazu Nakaima approved the construction in December 2013 and the excavation work began. In the 2014 gubernatorial election in Okinawa, Nakaima was defeated by the base opponent Takeshi Onaga , who was supported by the national opposition parties, and who called for the construction work to be stopped immediately and the Futenma airfield to be relocated to another prefecture. He was able to stop the construction work, but in December 2016 the Supreme Court ruled that Okinawa Prefecture had no legal authority to ban the construction. Onaga died in August 2018 of pancreatic cancer , so the gubernatorial election in Okinawa in 2018 has been brought forward by two months in September. In this election too, the base opponent Denny Tamaki won against the LDP candidate and former mayor of Ginowan, Atsushi Sakima .
Tamaki had promised during the election campaign that if he won, he would organize a prefecture-wide referendum on the relocation of the base in order to express the mood of the residents. In October 2018, the Okinawa Prefectural Parliament passed a law that would enable such a referendum, prompting nine Conservative-ruled municipalities ( Okinawa City , Ginowan, Uruma , Miyakojima , Ishigaki , Itoman , Yonaguni , Motobu and Kin ) to participate on the grounds that The topic was too complex to answer with "I agree" or "I do not agree", so they were canceled. As a compromise, the municipalities agreed with the prefectural government in January 2019 on the third option “neither of the two”. The official announcement (kōji) , with which the legal election campaign and the early election begin, took place on February 14, 2019. Election day was February 24; only in Taketomi the election took place on February 23rd due to several remote islands.
Positions
The central government appointed by the Liberal Democratic Party sees the relocation to Henoko as the "only solution" for the closure of the Futenma airfield. The US government rejects relocation to another prefecture due to Okinawa's geopolitical location. In addition to the LDP, the Nippon Ishin no Kai and the Party of Hope support the construction at the national level ; the LDP coalition partner Kōmeitō takes a neutral position. All other opposition parties represented in the national parliament ( Constitutional Democratic Party , People's Democratic Party , Communist Party , Liberal Party , Social Democratic Party and Okinawa Mass Socialist Party ) are against the new base and form the “All-Okinawa "-Move.
Result
The turnout was 52.48% and thus below the value from the 1996 referendum (59.53%). 37.65% of all eligible voters and thus more than 25% necessary for the validity of the result voted against the new US base. The result was as follows:
| With the land reclamation planned by the state for the construction of a US air force base planned to replace the Futenma military airfield in the Henoko district of the city of Nago, I am ... | be right | % |
|---|---|---|
| I Agree | 114.933 | 19.10 |
 Disagreeing
|
434.273 | 72.15 |
| Neither one | 52,682 | 8.75 |
| Valid votes | 601,888 | 99.42 |
| Invalid votes | 3,497 | 0.58 |
| Votes cast | 605,385 | 52.48 |
| Eligible voters | 1,153,591 | 100 |
Reactions
Governor Tamaki interpreted the result as a clear sign of the resistance of the residents of Okinawa against the new US base and again called for the construction work to be stopped. Prime Minister Shinzō Abe ruled this out and stressed that moving to Henoko was the only solution.
See also
Web links
- Official referendum website (Japanese)
Individual evidence
- ↑ pref.okinawa.jp - 沖 縄 県 公報 (Japanese), accessed February 25, 2019
- ↑ pref.okinawa.jp - 沖 縄 の 米 軍 基地 (Japanese), accessed February 25, 2019
- ↑ tokyoreview.net - Bearing the Burden: An Okinawan Perspective on US Bases , accessed on February 25, 2019
- ^ Okinawan's Send Message to Tokyo and US to Cut Bases. In: The New York Times . September 9, 1996, accessed February 25, 2019 .
- ↑ US Okinawa base will be allowed to move after 17-year deadlock. CNN , December 27, 2013, accessed February 25, 2019 .
- ↑ The Supreme Court of Japan supports the plan to rebuild the US military base in Okinawa. In: Voice of Vietnam . December 21, 2016, accessed February 25, 2019 .
- ↑ tokyoreview.net - Okinawa's Referendum: A Primer , accessed on February 25, 2019
- ↑ Onaga protests as Abe, Mattis agree to proceed with Futenma relocation plan. In: The Japan Times . February 4, 2017, accessed February 25, 2019 .
- ↑ bekyo.japanchoice.jp - 【沖 縄 基地 問題】 公約 比較 -15 の 争 点 - 2017 衆議院 議員 総 選 挙 (Japanese), accessed February 25, 2019
- ↑ Over 70% of voters reject US base transfer in Okinawa referendum. Kyōdō Tsūshinsha , February 25, 2019, accessed February 25, 2019 .
- ↑ pref.okinawa.jp - 開票 結果 速 報 (Japanese), accessed February 25, 2019
- ↑ After strong 'no' vote, Okinawan's look to highlight case against Henoko base plan in Tokyo and Washington. In: The Japan Times . February 25, 2019, accessed February 25, 2019 .