The chief of the Okinawa Defense Bureau was found to have given lectures on the coming mayoral election in Ginowan on Okinawa Island, the site of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, to bureau workers.
Although the bureau chief, Mr. Ro Manabe, may have tried to hide his true intentions in giving the lectures, it is logical to think he was hoping that lecture participants would vote for a candidate acceptable to the government on the issue of moving the Futenma functions to Henoko in another part of the island. Okinawan people will further stiffen their opposition to the Henoko plan.
In the Feb. 12 mayoral election, former Mayor Yoichi Iha -supported by the Japan Communist Party, the Social Democratic Party and Okinawa Shakai Taishu-to, an Okinawan party — and Mr. Atsushi Sakima — supported by the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito — will run against each other. In the past, Mr. Sakima conditionally supported the Henoko plan.