Japan's prime minister said Monday he may nix a key military deal with Washington on relocating U.S. troops, after a local election in Okinawa showed that residents oppose any new Marine base in their region.
Residents of Nago elected a mayor who is staunchly against moving a base there from a larger city nearby — plans which Washington considers fundamental to its troop realignment in the region. An agreement on the relocation was made under the previous government that lost power last year.
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said the results of Sunday's election reflected the will of the people, and that Japan would completely re-examine its accord with the U.S.
"The country will start from scratch on this issue and take responsibility to reach a conclusion by the end of May," he told reporters.
His government has repeatedly put off making a decision, risking a rift with the U.S., its main military ally, in the face of security concerns like North Korea's nuclear program and China's rising strength.
Nago chose challenger Susumu Inamine — who campaigned against any expansion of U.S. military presence in the area — over incumbent Yoshikazu Shimabukuro. Inamine won with 52.3 percent of the vote, according to the city's election office.
The city's mayor has little say in national policy, but with Japanese parliamentary elections coming in the summer, the results quickly reverberated throughout the country.
"It wasn't just Shimabukuro that was defeated in the election. The biggest loser was Japan's postwar military base strategy," the national Asahi daily said in a front-page editorial Monday.
Japan signed a deal with the U.S. four years ago that was part of a broader realignment of American troops, after a helicopter crashed into a university near Futenma in Okinawa. The Futenma facility, home to about 2,000 Marines, is one of the corps' largest facilities in the Pacific.
A key part of the plan was relocating that base to the smaller city of Nago, where the latest election was held. The issue sparked intense protests and dominated debate between the two mayoral candidates. Defeated mayor Shimabukuro supported the base for the jobs and investment it would bring.
The Obama administration has already expressed frustrations with Tokyo's delays in finalizing the relocation of the Futenma base — now in the larger Okinawa city of Ginowan — saying it is delaying a sweeping realignment plan for U.S. military in the region.
Under a security pact signed in 1960, U.S. armed forces are allowed broad use of Japanese land and facilities. In return, the U.S. is obliged to respond to attacks on Japan and protect the country under its nuclear umbrella.
More than half of some 47,000 American troops stationed in Japan are in Okinawa, where many residents complain about noise, pollution and crime linked to the bases.
Inamine, an independent, ran with the support of Hatoyama's ruling Democratic Party. His victory Sunday will make it increasingly difficult for the prime minister to resist pressure to shelve the deal.
After securing victory, Inamine celebrated with jubilant supporters gathered at his office.
"I fought this campaign vowing to resist the base," he said Sunday. "I intend to keep that promise as we move forward."
