Did Governor Denny win?

Did Governor Denny Win? 13:20, 54 June

Okinawa prefectural assembly.
The ruling party of the prefectural assembly that supports Governor Tamaki Denny is a power including the Communist Party and the Social Democratic Party. The opposition party to it is the LDP. The composition is the exact opposite of the Diet.
In the parliamentary elections on the 7th of this month, which attracted attention, the ruling party reduced the number of seats before the election, but still maintained a majority.
For Tamaki, who confronts the government, the majority of the prefectural council that backs up can never be surrendered....
(Okinawa Broadcasting Station, Sakai Ichisho)

Famous VS VS Confectionery Brand Showdown

"Okinaga" is a special name in the political world of Okinawa.
One of the new candidates for the constituencies of Naha City, the prefecture's capital, was named. Yuuji Onaga, 32 years old. He is the youngest candidate in this prefectural election.

Onaga's father was former Governor Onaga, who died in the middle of his term of office, although he opposed the government to prevent the relocation of Futenma base to Henoko. "Prince" is from a family of politicians whose grandfather also served as mayor. He wanted to inherit the will of his father, who fell in the middle of his will, and ran for the ruling party in favor of Tamaki.

On the other hand, the opposition LDP. The successor candidate of the former chairman of the prefectural government has aimed to acquire the first seats in Naha. Yoshiaki Aragaki, 44 years old. The eldest son of a long-established confectionery store that makes Okinawa's famous confection "Chinsuko".

The brand has been brought to the fore by posting a unique character called "Chinsuko-kun" on the poster. He criticized Tamaki, who is in conflict with the government, and called for the need for cooperation with the government as the prefecture's economy was hit hard by the new coronavirus.

In the fierce battle district where 16 people fought for a capacity of 11, two new candidates with completely different stances seemed to symbolize the prefectural election this time.

Anti-government tough policy Prefectural assembly backed

The Okinawa Prefectural Assembly has a strong conflict between maintenance and innovation because it has a base problem.
Prior to the election, the ruling parties such as the Communist Party and the Social Democratic Party supporting Tamaki had 26 seats, and the opposition/Liberal Democratic Party and the neutral Komeito had 20 seats (vacancy 2). Tamaki has taken various measures to prevent the relocation of Futenma base to Henoko against the backdrop of the power of the ruling party, which accounts for the majority.

Both the prefecture's plaintiffs have to vote for the lawsuit against the country and the budget bill to secure the costs must be passed by the parliament, but both were passed smoothly.

Tamaki's defeat in the court, such as the prefecture being defeated, showed a deadlock, but in April the situation entered a new phase.
The soft ground was found over a wide area of ​​the land to be reclaimed, and the government applied to the prefecture for design changes necessary for ground improvement work.

An emergency declaration was issued nationwide due to the spread of the new coronavirus infection, and an application was made during the time when Okinawa Prefecture was also rushed to respond. Tamaki harshly criticized, "I have no regrets because of the schedule. I cannot accept it."

The government cannot undertake ground improvement work unless the district approves the application.
Tamaki intends to spend as much time as possible before drawing a conclusion, and finally refuses. Meanwhile, the movement of the government can be stopped.

For Tamaki, in order to continue such hard-line measures, it was absolutely necessary to maintain the majority of the ruling party in the prefectural elections.

Continuing the aspirations of my late father

"By the time I was born, my father was already a politician. I saw my father working hard for the sake of the citizens and the citizens of the prefecture. The politics made life better for the citizens and changed the society. There is great power to go on.''

Onaga put up the existence of his father, Yuji, in the forefront of the election campaign. Onaga, who challenged this election in the middle of the first term of the Naha city council. On the streets, I repeatedly complained about why I chose the political path. His father, Yushi, has a strong impression as a "fighting governor" over the relocation of Henoko, but Onaga appeals that he is working on raising three children in addition to inheriting his father's aspirations including the base problem. However, he also put a lot of effort into appealing the expansion of child-rearing support measures.

"I'm a promising new candidate who has come to the political path by looking at his father's back."

The day after the notification, Tamaki screamed next to Onaga. For Tamaki, Onaga's father, Yushi, was the benefactor who led him to his current position by the successor nomination, and was supported by Onaga himself in the election of the governor of Ototoshi. This time, Tamaki backed up the Onaga election campaign in return.

Governor Mizuno “Becoming an influencer”

Tamashii energetically traveled to support the ruling party candidates, mostly in the fiercely contested constituencies, almost every day, while spending time in between public affairs. Moreover, while the election campaign was restricted by the influence of the new coronavirus, SNS was also actively used.

In the beginning of May, a document from the Tamaki area was sent to the ruling party's camp, stating, "About information dissemination and publicity strategy in the prefectural assembly election.
Ask candidates to open multiple accounts such as Twitter and Facebook and actively post their movements, and spread this at once by linking it with Twitter of Tamaki who has 90,000 followers. That's the strategy.

It was also stated that the governor himself would be the biggest influencer, relying on Tamaki's power of communication. After the notification, the posts of election campaigns began to flood the SNS of Tamaki to link with each candidate. In the moving car, Tamaki connects his smartphone to the charger and faces the screen. I was quickly posting a picture of the camp that gave a support speech just before.
"The battery will be depleted, and if there is no Wi-Fi environment, the data capacity will be out immediately."

Collaboration rather than conflict with the government

The hometown of the LDP Aragaki is Shuri. On the day of the notification, Shuri Castle, which had been in a wreck in the fire last year, appealed for support on the banks of the pond.
"We want to work on rebuilding Shuri Castle as soon as possible so that it will become a symbol of the economic reconstruction of Okinawa!"

The base issue is not the only issue for prefectural government. Due to the influence of the new coronavirus, Okinawa, one of the leading tourist destinations in Japan, is in an unprecedented predicament. Last year, the number of people who visited Okinawa for sightseeing exceeded 10 million for the first time, and the strong tourism industry has been driving the prefecture's economy. However, due to the spread of the infection, since March this year, all air routes connecting Okinawa and overseas have been suspended, and there are no cruise ships calling at all. It was also calculated that the number of visitors to Okinawa during the four months until July will decrease by 87% compared to the same period the year before.

Shrine Castle, one of the most popular sightseeing spots, has been destroyed by fire, and it is a coronal wreck that seems to hit you. Aragaki called for support that government cooperation is needed to overcome the crisis.

“For economic support, it takes a lot of budget and we have to secure financial resources. However, it is said that the current Okinawa prefecture has the worst relationship with the government. That is why we are in the parliamentary position. We need to negotiate firmly.''

Opposition Party/LDP strategy

Since the election of the governor as an adult, the opposition party and the LDP have lost consecutive national elections and wanted to trigger the reversal of this election. Regarding consignment work ordered by the prefecture, the confrontation stance has been clarified, such as the problem that Tamaki was eating and drinking with the contractor before concluding a contract and continuing to strictly pursue the management responsibility of the burned down Shurijo Castle.

In this election as well, he criticized, "There are various distortions caused by the reduction of the promotion budget due to the conflict with the government. It is imperative that such prefectural administration be continued." He appealed to restore the government's promotion budget to a record high.

What I expected from the appeal was support from the business world.

For the prefectural election, Mahiro Nakai, who was the former Governor and served as President of Okinawa Electric Power and Prefectural Chamber of Commerce and Industry, was appointed as the post of the prefectural counselor for the prefectural party.

Makoto Nakai, who approved the reclamation of Henoko offshore, lost to Governor Onaga six years ago. After that, though far from the front stage, the Liberal Democratic Party hoped to put together a corporate vote that made use of the pipe.
Makoto Nakai was appointed as the caretaker of the "Meeting to realize the future of Okinawa through economic promotion" that was established by the business world during the prefectural election. The organization moved energetically by introducing support companies to new candidates who were not solid.

On the other hand, there was also anxiety. The first is a drop in the cabinet approval rate.
According to an NHK poll in May, “no support” exceeded “support” for the first time in two years. Different from the national elections, there was a view that regional issues are not directly linked to prefectural elections, which are prone to issues.

Another big miscalculation for the LDP was that the Komeito narrowed down the candidates from the original four to two at the end of April. The Komeito Prefectural Headquarters explained that it took into consideration the risk of infection with the new coronavirus associated with the election campaign.

The executive of the LDP prefectural government, who was informed, said with surprise and confusion, "I have water in my ears." This movement is pouring cold water on the LDP, which is aiming for a majority recapture together with the Komeito. The Komeito Prefectural Headquarters has a "neutral" position with respect to the Tamaki Prefectural Government, with a distinction between the Party Headquarters and the Liberal Democratic Party, saying that "Futenma Base will be relocated outside the prefecture/overseas. It was one act that made me feel the difference with national politics.

The ruling party "victory of thin ice"

As a result of the vote, the "Tamagusuku ruling party" secured a majority of 25 seats, although it had reduced the number of seats by one before the election. On the other hand, the opposition party has gained 23 seats, including neutral powers, such as the LDP extending from 13 seats before the election to 17 seats, and has fallen short of the ruling party.

In the constituency of Naha City, Onaga was the top winner with 10,821 votes, and Aragaki was third with 9879 votes.

Onaga stood on the street the morning after he was elected and expressed his appreciation and determination.
"Although it cannot be said that the number of seats is stable, I would like to firmly unite the 25 elected members to support the Tamaki prefectural government."

What was behind the thin ice victory of the ruling party?
Let's start with an exit survey conducted by NHK in Naha City on the day of the election.
When asked about the evaluation by Tamaki Prefectural Government, “Evaluate” was as high as 82%, and Henoko relocation of Futenma Base was 71% in “opposition” and 29% in “acceptance”. It can be said that the stance of Tamaki confronting the government is highly supported by the people of the prefecture.

On the other hand, compared with the exit survey conducted in the previous prefectural election 4 years ago, the changes in the needs of the prefecture's residents can be seen. Last time, when asked about what I emphasized in voting, overwhelmingly "Futenma base relocation" was 42%, and "Economy and employment" was 19%. On the other hand, the "most expected policy" was "economic measures" at 28% and "Futenma base problem" at 25%.

Although the method of asking questions was a little different from the previous time, this result shows that more and more people are focusing on the economy rather than the base problem as the prefecture's economy is in a difficult situation due to Corona. It seems that the base problem, the economy, the conflict and cooperation with the government, and the difficulty of the balance are reflected in the subtle number of seats in the ruling opposition party.

In this prefectural election, the voting rate was 46.96%, interrupting 50% for the first time because the election campaign was restricted by Corona and the weather was bad in a wide range of the prefecture on the day of the vote. Became. It is possible that this low voter turnout affected the election results.

Battle of Tamaki to the next stage

"I would like to start the prefectural administration in earnest, based on the fact that I got a certain evaluation but reduced the number of seats." Tamaki watched over the whereabouts of the votes at the governor's office. Appeared in front of reporters around midnight when the date changed.

Even though the ruling party maintained the majority, the impact of losing the seat of the ruling party's incumbent in Okinawa City and Ginowan City, which holds Futenma base, which many times supported in its own region, was a big victory for thin ice. The color of disappointment bleeded. On the other hand, regarding the relocation of Futenma base to Henoko, he said, "I don't think the people's will of opposition is unshakable," and he said he would continue to aim to prevent it.

Tamaki prefectural government has a difficult problem of how to recover the prefecture's economy, which has been seriously hit, while continuing to confront the government with the base problem. Since there is only a slight difference in seats between the ruling and opposition parties, it is expected that there will be an active battle for leadership. Based on the results of this time, the citizens of the prefecture are paying close attention to how Tamaki will be responsible for steering the prefectural government.

The year 2022 is the 50th year since the return of Okinawa to the mainland. In the autumn of that year, Tamaki's current term expires and the governor's election will be held. The battle between the ruling and opposition parties in Okinawa Prefecture, which is twisted with the national politics, moves to the next stage.
(Honorific title omitted)