Japan LDP Desperate to Win Okinawa Governor Race

Naha, Okinawa Pref., Aug. 22 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party is ready to devote its maximum resources to win the Sept. 13 gubernatorial election in the southernmost prefecture of Okinawa. LDP executives will visit the island prefecture one after another to rally support for Genta Koja, a 42-year-old former vice mayor of Naha, the prefectural capital, who is set to run with the backing of the party. But the LDP, led by conservative Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, is careful not to overly emphasize its support for Koja, who is also backed by opposition parties including the Democratic Party for the People. “We’ll help Koja realize his election pledges with all our strength,” Yasutoshi Nishimura, who chairs the LDP’s Election Strategy Committee, said at a rally for Koja’s candidacy held in the city of Urasoe on Thursday. “I pledge to double prefectural income,” Koja said, highlighting his economic policy. He did not mention the controversial project to relocate the U.S. Marine Corps’ Futenma air station from Ginowan in Okinawa to the Henoko coastal district in Nago in the same prefecture. At a meeting of LDP executives Aug. 4, Takaichi instructed the party leadership to make sure that an LDP-backed candidate retakes the helm of the prefecture after a break of nearly 12 years. Nishimura has visited Okinawa six times since April. He repeatedly met with executives of the LDP Okinawa prefectural chapter and support group members. LDP Policy Research Council Chairman Takayuki Kobayashi plans to visit Okinawa companies for two days through Tuesday, while Executive Acting Secretary-General Koichi Hagiuda will also go to the prefecture in the near future. The LDP headquarters Friday sent a written request that the party’s lawmakers provide lists of their supporters living in Okinawa. In the most recent Okinawa gubernatorial election, held in 2022, the candidate backed by the LDP was defeated by current Governor Denny Tamaki, 66, who was supported by the All Okinawa camp including opposition parties. Among major opposition parties, the Centrist Reform Alliance has decided to allow its members to vote freely in the upcoming gubernatorial election, while Komeito will have its prefectural chapter endorse Koja. Despite his high name recognition, Tamaki has come under criticism over the death of a high school girl in an accident during a peace study program off Henoko. “We can fight on an even footing,” an LDP heavyweight said. Koja plans to gather support from a wide range of voters by downplaying political affiliation. Meanwhile, LDP executives have limited their support activities mainly to visits to industry groups. They worry that Komeito members might not vote for Koja if too much emphasis is placed on his links with the Takaichi administration. Meanwhile, some LDP members believe that Koja cannot win the election without taking on a clear political tone. They said that executives from the LDP, the Japan Innovation Party, the DPFP and Sanseito, all of which support Koja, should gather in Okinawa to jointly ask for support. Another focus is whether Takaichi will visit the prefecture during the campaign period from Thursday. In the Ishikawa gubernatorial election March 8, the LDP-backed incumbent was defeated although Takaichi visited the prefecture to rally support for the candidate. “The prime minister will see her political power decline if hit by another defeat after Ishikawa,” an LDP executive said. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]