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Okinawans 鈥榬eject鈥 US base relocation
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Voters on the Japanese island of Okinawa have rejected the relocation of a controversial US military base, according to exit polls from a non-binding referendum cited by local media yesterday.
It was not immediately clear if enough people had turned out to meet the threshold required for Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki to 鈥渞espect鈥 the result of the symbolic referendum.
For this to happen, one quarter of the eligible electorate 鈥 or around 290,000 people 鈥 had to vote for one of the three options: for or against relocation or a third choice of 鈥渘either.鈥
In any case, the vote is non-binding on the central government and turnout appeared to be hovering around 50 percent, raising questions about what effect the referendum will have.
The central government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has vowed to press on with moving the base and the relocation is also backed by Washington.
The ballot asked residents whether they supported a plan to reclaim land at a remote coastal site for the relocation of the Futenma base from a heavily populated part of Okinawa.
It was initially planned as a yes-no vote, but a 鈥渘either鈥 option was added after several cities with close ties to the central government threatened to boycott the vote. Polls opened early yesterday, with about 1.15 million Okinawans eligible to vote.
Speaking after voting at a local school, Yuki Miyagaki said: 鈥淭hey are using a lot of tax money and manpower for this referendum, even though the result will not have any legal power. So we thought that we should take this opportunity and think very carefully about this issue.鈥
鈥淲e usually shout 鈥榥o鈥 to the new base construction. This is a good opportunity to tell the government directly: 鈥楴o.鈥 This is an important vote,鈥 said 32-year-old Narumi Haine.
鈥淭he referendum has underlined once again Okinawa鈥檚 strong opposition to the relocation,鈥 said Yoshinobu Yamamoto, professor of politics at the University of Niigata.
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