All Okinawa-, LDP-Backed Candidates Run for Naha Mayor

Naha, Okinawa Pref., Oct. 16 (Jiji Press)--Two people backed by the "All Okinawa" camp and the Liberal Democratic Party-Komeito ruling coalition, respectively, filed their candidacies on Sunday for the Oct. 23 mayoral election in Naha, the capital of the southern Japan prefecture of Okinawa.

One of the two is former Okinawa prefectural assembly member Takeharu Onaga, 35, supported by the All Okinawa camp including Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki, who is opposing the relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma air base within the prefecture.

The other, backed by the LDP-Komeito coalition, is Satoru Chinen, 59, former deputy mayor of the city.

Onaga, who is also endorsed by four opposition parties including the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, is the second son of the late Okinawa Governor Takeshi Onaga, who led the All Okinawa camp.

Meanwhile, Chinen has secured backing from incumbent Naha Mayor Mikiko Shiroma, who was supported by the camp in past mayoral polls.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]