A top official of the main opposition party ignited a fierce internal backlash by backtracking on the party’s long-standing policy of opposing the relocation of a U.S. military base in Okinawa Prefecture.
Jun Azumi, secretary-general of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, said at a Jan. 19 news conference that halting the relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma “would not be realistic if we were to take the reins of government.”
He made the comment while announcing the platform of the new Centrist Reform Alliance party formed through the CDP’s merger with Komeito.
The remark drew immediate criticism from the CDP’s Okinawa prefectural chapter, a key member of the “All-Okinawa” coalition that opposes the relocation of the U.S. air station from Ginowan to Nago’s Henoko area.
Tomohiro Yara, a Lower House member representing the district that includes Nago, flew to Tokyo on Jan. 20 to lodge a protest with Azumi.
The chapter also sent a formal letter to CDP leader Yoshihiko Noda, demanding a retraction of Azumi’s remark.
On the same day, Azumi told reporters that his “words were insufficient,” and that the new alliance’s stance on the relocation issue “has not yet been sorted out.”
However, Komeito leader Tetsuo Saito affirmed on Jan. 21 that his party’s support for the relocation project remains “fundamentally consistent.”
The apparent rift in the new opposition alliance comes amid the campaign for the Jan. 25 Nago mayoral election.
The prefectural chapter called Azumi’s remarks “a huge blow” and is scrambling to contain the fallout among supporters.
“It is an unforgivable remark,” Mio Nakamura, the chapter’s deputy head, said at a news conference in Naha on Jan. 21. “The CDP’s policy is to suspend the Henoko relocation, and this remark is inconsistent with party policy.
“We strongly demand that this policy be firmly maintained in the Centrist Reform Alliance’s platform, too.”
(This article was written by Satsuki Tanahashi and Mika Kuniyoshi.)
AloJapan.com