Tokyo, January 25: Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said on Monday he would stick to a promise to decide on the future of a U.S. military base by the end of May despite a local election that has complicated a feud with Washington.
The dispute over the Marine base in southern Japan is weighing on voter support for Hatoyama’s four month-old government, already dented by a funding scandal ensnaring his ruling Democratic Party’s No.2 official.
The ratings decline has endangered the Democrats’ chances for a majority in a mid-year election for parliament’s upper house, raising the risk of policy delay which could add pressure to spending that could push up bond yields.
Hatoyama faces an increasingly tough decision on the dispute over the U.S. Marines’ Futenma airbase on Okinawa, which under a 2006 deal with Washington was to be relocated to the city of Nago in a less-crowded part of the southern island.
Washington wants Japan to implement the plan. But Hatoyama is under pressure from his tiny coalition allies to stick to a pledge to move Futenma off the island, where many residents feel they shoulder an unfair share of U.S. forces.
Hatoyama brushed off concerns he could further dither on the issue after a candidate who opposes the 2006 plan won an election for Nago mayor on Sunday.
“The government has promised to start from scratch and to be responsible in reaching a conclusion on this issue by the end of May,” Hatoyama told reporters. “We will definitely fulfil that.”
Hatoyama’s party is also plagued by a scandal linked to his party’s kingpin Ichiro Ozawa, who was questioned by prosecutors last week after three current and former aides were arrested on suspicion of misreporting political donations.
Despite the threat to voter support, Hatoyama has stood by Ozawa, who has denied any wrongdoing and whose electioneering skills are seen as important to the party winning the upper house election.
—Agencies