Japan's Abe suffers Okinawa election defeat over new US base
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Tokyo: An opponent of the construction of a new US Marine base on the southern Japanese island of Okinawa won election as governor Sunday, beating a candidate backed by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s ruling coalition.
Denny Tamaki, the son of a US serviceman and a Japanese mother, claimed victory over Atsushi Sakima in the closely fought race, Kyodo news agency reported. Tamaki opposes a government plan to build a new military facility, enabling the closure of the Futenma Marine base in the centre of a densely populated city.
National broadcaster NHK showed a beaming Tamaki wearing a traditional floral shirt and dancing alongside his supporters as the results came in.
“What the Okinawan people cannot accept is the construction of the base at Henoko,” he said, referring to the new facility. “I will urge the government to go along with the feelings of the people.”
While media opinion polls had indicated the result might be close, Tamaki won 396,632 votes, compared with 316,458 for Sakima, who was supported by Abe’s ruling coalition, according to NHK.
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