The Liberal Democratic Party has effectively put on hold a set of government measures to promote economic development in Okinawa Prefecture.
The move, apparently to protest Okinawa Gov. Masahide Ota's opposition to a heliport project for the U.S. military, came Thursday. At a meeting of two LDP panels in charge of Okinawa-related issues, preliminary approval was given to a government-proposed amendment of an existing law for economic promotion and development of the island prefecture.
But the party did not submit the matter for further deliberations at its Policy Affairs Research Council as originally planned. Instead, it was left to LDP Secretary General Koichi Kato and other senior party officials to make a "political decision."
The amendment is needed to implement tax incentives and other stimulus measures proposed by the government of Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto in its attempt to win local support for the controversial sea-based heliport off Nago in northern Okinawa.
The heliport project is a key portion of the government's effort to put into action a 1996 Tokyo-Washington agreement to return Futenma Air Station in Ginowan to Japan on condition that the functions of its U.S. Marine Corps' heliport are relocated.
Initially, Hashimoto's Cabinet planned to approve the amendment Tuesday after final endorsement by the ruling party, and then submit it to the Diet for enactment. However, doubts over the amendment have risen since Gov. Ota voiced support for a candidate who opposes the heliport plan in a mayoral election Sunday in Nago.