News Analysis: Okinawa mayor reelection deals massive blow to Abe's base relocation plans by Jon Day TOKYO, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Susumu Inamine's re-election as mayor of Nago, Okinawa, has dealt a fresh blow to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) plans to relocate the controversial U.S. Marine Corps'Futenma Air Station to the coastal city. Despite Abe's efforts to relinquish power from Inamine, by throwing the LDP's political power and finances behind Bunshin Suematsu, a former prefectural assembly member who favors the central government's relocation plans, Inamine secured his second term in office. The relocation of the Futenma was the central theme to the election and the majority of Okinawans stand staunchly opposed to the plan -- also opposed by Inamine himself for more than two decades -- which would see the Futenma base be moved from the crowded, downtown district in Ginowan, to the coastal Henoko region, also on Okinawa island. The project outlines that 60 hectares of coastal land would need to be reclaimed during the five-year construction plan, much to the chagrin of Inamine, local prefectural officials, as well as the islanders, who are concerned that the construction work will irrevocably damage the local fishing industry as well as the natural environment. Concerns are also rife that the project will see instances of military noise, pollution, crime and accidents increase in the area and calls are become ever-more vociferous for the base to be relocated off the island completely, as Okinawa Governor Hirokazu Nakaima had previously promised, before flip-flopping on the idea, under pressure from Abe's government. Inamine has played hardball with Abe and his mouthpiece in Okinawa, Suematsu, and has won convincingly. This is a true testament to the sentiment of the people of Okinawa. They do not want the base there and they don't like being mislead or lied to," Japanese Affairs commentator Kaoru Imori told Xinhua. Nakaima backtracking on his promises angered the people of Okinawa who have suffered with hosting the bulk of U.S. military bases in Japan and are tired of it. They have (re) selected someone they believe reflects their opinions and holds the same level of passion,"Imori said. He went on to say that that Inamine's success has been a huge upset to Abe and his administration who reportedly offered Nakaima around half a billion U.S. dollars in new public works spending and a similar amount annually to be paid until 2021, for Nakaima' s support and to ensure Nago was"turned over." But Inamine, a former school superintendent, garnered a great deal of support not just from the Japanese Communist Party, but the People's Life Party, the Social Democratic Party, as well as conservative groups, anti-base supporters and islanders with no particular affiliations beyond not wanting to see a new area of their island burdened with a new U.S. base. Abe has embarrassed himself here, but it will likely be Nakaima who has to fall on his sword, as calls for him to resign before the next gubernatorial election are heating up. While there will be increased faith among the locals in Okinawa, as Inamine has vowed to use his mayoral powers to block the construction project, the LDP has been left a little red-faced,"said Imori. In December, Nakaima green-lit Abe's request to go ahead with a landfill project in the Henoko Bay area, despite huge opposition from the mayor and city officials. Such is the level of opposition to the base's relocation that a consortium of residents in Japan's southernmost prefecture filed a law suit on Jan. 15 aimed at invalidating Nakaima's approval to reclaim an area of land in the Henoko Bay region. Nakaima originally approved the central government's request on Dec. 27, which sparked outrage from local citizens who had been consistently assured by prefectural officials, including Nakaima himself, that the plan to relocate the base would not go ahead and the new base would be moved off the island entirely. The consortium comprised of 194 plaintiffs, including Henoko residents, believe Nakaima's approval for landfill work to begin is unlawful and that the central government has failed to provide satisfactory information regarding how it plans to protect the coastal region's rich and diverse wildlife, including dugongs and a rare coral reef. The law suit is pushing for the local Naha district court to issue an injunction to the central government to suspend the project while the case is pending, a step that the plaintiffs' leader Hiroshi Ashitomi described as a"milestone." "The result of this election will be a big hiccup for Abe and the ruling LDP and ties between Tokyo and Washington may once again become strained again due to this," Laurent Sinclair, a Japan-based pacific affairs research analyst said. "Abe would have likely given his assurances to Washington that' Nago was a done deal'and that the relocation plan would go ahead as scheduled, now that Nakaima -- the previous biggest obstacle to the project -- had been turned, but now that's all changed," Sinclair told Xinhua. Sinclair added that there was probably a lot of head-scratching going on in Kasumigaseki now as the central government mulls its next move. One that could see it try to go above the newly-elected mayor's head and force the construction project, but risk sparking mass protests in Okinawa, or wait four years and hope they can force a conservative mayor into power to ensure the project goes ahead and makes up for lost time. Either way,"Washington will be piqued at the latest saga in the Futenma story and until Abe comes up with a trojan solution to the problem, the LDP's cozy relationship with its ally may become a little prickly, particularly when factoring in Abe's recent Yasukuni visit, which the U.S. denounced harshly,"Sinclair said, adding that the Tokyo mayoral election in February would now also come under"increase scrutiny." Following Abe and the LDP's failure to manipulate Okinawa's legislative power base through their own political and financial clout, all eyes will now be on how the central government attempts to move forward with the relocation, under a broader agreement with the U.S. about realigning forces here, with a previous pact reexamined and confirmed in 2009 that will see around 8,000 Marines moved off Okinawa, in the interests of easing the base- hosting burdens of the locals there, and transferred to Guam and Hawaii. The islanders, however, remain opposed to the base being relocated within Okinawa and would rather see it repositioned off the island entirely as Okinawa currently shoulders the burden of hosting 75 percent of Japan's U.S. bases and more than half of the 50,000 U.S. military personnel stationed here. Okinawans have consistently called on both prefectural and central governments to see their base-hosting burdens lifted, amid instances of numerous military-related accidents, increasing pollution and a number of globally reported, heinous crimes committed by U.S. military personnel. Citizens and officials on the island claim that instances of environmental pollution, military accidents and crime have increased over the years and can be directly attributed to the disproportionate military presence in Japan's southernmost prefecture. Inamine confirmed his pledge on hearing he'd been elected for a second term as Nago mayor, stating that the creation of a new base is wholly unacceptable and declaring that this is the will of the people of Okinawa.