Japan PM says anti-US base vote 'will of the people'

1 hr 7 mins ago

TOKYO (AFP) – Japan's centre-left Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said Monday that a local election victory by an opponent of a planned US military base on Okinawa island reflects the "will of the people."

The outcome of the mayoral vote Sunday makes it less likely that a controversial new Marine Corps air base will be built in a coastal area of the southern island on which tens of thousands of US troops are already stationed.

The base issue has soured ties between Washington and Tokyo since Hatoyama's government swept to power in August, vowing a less subservient stance towards the United States and announcing a review of the base issue.

Both countries agreed in 2006 to move the air operations of the locally unpopular Futenma air station from its current spot in a crowded urban area to a quieter location near the coastal city of Nago by 2014.

However, Hatoyama, whose coalition includes a strongly pacifist party, has said he will review the plan and decide by May whether to stick with the pact or move the base to another site, either on or off the island.

The United States has insisted Japan honour the deal, which is part of a wider plan to realign its 47,000-strong troop presence in a country where American forces have been based since the end of World War II.

In Sunday's vote in Nago, anti-base candidate Susumu Inamine, who was backed by Hatoyama's ruling party, beat the pro-base incumbent Yoshikazu Shimabukuro by a margin of 17,950 to 16,362 votes.

Hatoyama on Monday told reporters that "the election result shows the will of the people of Nago city," although he reiterated that the central government's final decision would not come before May.