Ruling Camp-Backed Candidate Wins Ginowan Mayoral Poll

Ginowan, Okinawa Pref., Sept. 9 (Jiji Press)--Atsushi Sakima, a candidate backed by Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner, Komeito, has won a mayoral election in Ginowan in the southernmost Japan prefecture of Okinawa.

In Sunday's election, Sakima, a 60-year-old former Ginowan mayor, defeated Isao Tobaru, a 65-year-old former member of the Ginowan assembly, and corporate representative Takashi Higa, 47. Tobaru was endorsed by three parties in the opposition camp--the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, the Japanese Communist Party and the Social Democratic Party.

It is the third time that Sakima has won a Ginowan mayoral election.

The voter turnout was 53.27 pct, down from 63.49 pct in the previous election.

The latest election took place as former Ginowan mayor Masanori Matsugawa passed away in July, during his tenure, and was a de facto one-on-one battle between Sakima, who supports the relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma air base in Ginowan to the Henoko coastal area in Nago, another Okinawa city, and Tobaru, who was backed by the "All Okinawa" camp, which opposes the relocation.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]