by Jon Day http://www.carolinahurricanesteamstore. … fin-jersey , Liu Tian

TOKYO, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) were dealt a decisive blow Sunday by former mayor of Naha, Okinawa, Takeshi Onaga, who dispatched of the LDP-backed incumbent in the region's gubernatorial election.

Onaga, 64, a staunch opponent of relocating the controversial U. S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma from Ginowan http://www.carolinahurricanesteamstore. … cas-jersey , Okinawa Prefecture, to the coastal region of Henoko, Nago, also in the prefecture, dispatched with his three opponents who included incumbent Hirokazu Nakaima, Mikio Shimoji, a former Lower House member and Shokichi Kina http://www.carolinahurricanesteamstore. … ger-jersey , a former Upper House member.

While Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said before the election that the Futenma issue was not at stake as the base's relocation is "already a matter concluded in the past," the crux of the election was indeed the base's relocation. Political analysts and media acknowledged with the consensus that the result would prove to be a massive headache for the central government and its plan to consolidate defense ties with the United States.

Conversely, political commentators have been quick to note that for Washington, who has long since been irked with Tokyo's cumbersome dealings with the base relocation issue, with the previous administration flip-flopping on a bilateral deal struck with Tokyo in 1996 to relocate the base, and then has been convinced by the central government here recently that once they'd pressurized Nakaima to do their biding and essentially browbeaten him into green lighting land to be reclaimed in the Henoko region for the base's construction, another stretch of time-wasting looms.

"The results got to show how deeply Okinawa people regard this topic on a political and an emotional level and Nakaima was fighting an uphill battle as he'd lost the trust of the locals for backtracking on his pledge to not relocate the base http://www.carolinahurricanesteamstore. … iak-jersey , then lost the support of the LDP's coalition New Komeito party, as Onaga saw a massive amount of support from the Okinawa people, as well as essential backing from the Communist Party and the Social Democratic Party here," pacific affairs research analyst, Laurent Sinclair, told Xinhua.

"Admittedly the central government has confirmed with Washington that the base will be moved by early 2019, but as was the case in the past the central government have to garner local public support before they can fully move ahead and after today's result http://www.carolinahurricanesteamstore. … eck-jersey , it's fair to say the local public firmly oppose the move," said Sinclair.

"This is a huge thorn in the side for Abe's government, the exact future of which is somewhat unclear as the likelihood is the prime minister will call a general election soon -- and that may have been factored in marginally to the LDP's candidate losing today, as he promised 348 billion yen (around 3.34 billion U.S. dollars) to develop infrastructure in Okinawa in the draft budget for the year from April and a further 300 billion yen per year through 2021-22."

Sinclair went on to say that this money was more than likely an attempt from the central government to try and appease the local population, but as things stand now, Nakaima has been ousted and the prime minister is looking to rebuild his government by dissolving the lower house of parliament possibly as soon as Monday.

He added that such uncertainty in the government played well into Onaga's hands who, for all intents and purposes http://www.carolinahurricanesteamstore. … ams-jersey , had a single point to his election campaign, and that was to ensure that Futenma is not relocated.

"No matter how much money the central government tries to chuck at officials in Okinawa to pacify the locals, under promises of new infrastructure, the move itself is viewed as a crude attempt by the government to buy what it wants," political analyst Teruhisa Muramatsu told Xinhua.

"Any mention of bases, their relocation or construction, simply reminds Okinawans of the terrible burden they have been enduring for so many years. And fresh in the memories of the locals and the impetus for the central government inking the deal with the United States to shift the Futenma base in the first place was the rape of an elementary schoolgirl in Okinawa by three U.S. servicemen in 1995 http://www.carolinahurricanesteamstore. … ulk-jersey ," Muramatsu said.

Rising anti-U.S. sentiment in the region has been fairly constant since then, not in a belligerent or overly-aggressive way, Muramatsu said, but more like people saying "Enough is enough!"

Okinawans are fed up with the pollution and the environmental damage caused by the bases, crime associated with U.S. service people and the central government's inability to support its own people in favor of bolstering defense ties with the United States, " Muramatsu added.

In contrast to Nakaima, who stated that moving the airbase to a pristine and http://www.carolinahurricanesteamstore. … ier-jersey , until recently, environmentally perfect coastal region on the island represented the "only feasible solution in terms of safety," Onaga has been a stalwart advocate of doing the exact opposite.

"We must not allow the construction of the new base. Let's show that the people of Okinawa Prefecture will not waver even if the governor and some other politicians are wavering," Onaga said on his campaign trail, eyeing the base's relocation will destroy the coastal region's environment, including rare coral reefs and endangered species living there.

"Okinawa has the human resources and capital, what we don't have is enough land http://www.carolinahurricanesteamstore. … ris-jersey ," Onaga was quoted as saying. "Bases occupy 18. 4 percent of Okinawa's main island -- there won't be economic development unless this land is returned," he vowed.

The tiny island of Okinawa accounts for just 1 percent of Japan 's total land area but holds about 74 percent of U.S. bases in Japan, and Abe has been attempting to reduce the number of U.S. service people based there, in a bid to relieve the base hosting burdens of the locals.

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