OKINAWA, Japan – Residents of Japan’s Okinawa go to the polls Sunday in a closely watched referendum on the controversial relocation of a US military…
OKINAWA, Japan – Residents of Japan’s Okinawa go to the polls Sunday in a closely watched referendum on the controversial relocation of a US military base to a remote part of the island.
The vote is seen as highly symbolic but is also non-binding, raising questions about what effect it will have, even if opponents of the move, including Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki, prevail.
The ballot will ask residents whether they support a plan to reclaim land at a remote coastal site for the relocation of the Futenma base from its current location in a heavily-populated part of Okinawa.
The referendum was initially planned as a yes-no vote on the move, but a “neither” option was added after several cities with close ties to the central government threatened to boycott the vote.
Although the referendum is not legally binding, “it is significant that people in Okinawa can express their will through the vote,” said Jun Shimabukuro, a professor at Ryukyu University in Okinawa.
“It can be a test to gauge if democracy is working in Japan,” Shimabukuro told AFP.
The relocation of Futenma to Nago, 50 kilometers (30 miles) away, was first agreed in 1996 as the US sought to calm local anger after US servicemen gang raped a local schoolgirl.
