Hatoyama stakes job on resolving U.S. base dispute by end of May+

TOKYO, April 23 Kyodo -
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama reiterated Friday that he intends to resolve by
the end of May a dispute over where to relocate the U.S. Marines' Futemma Air
Station in Okinawa, saying he will stake his job as prime minister on keeping
the promise he has repeatedly made.
''It's a matter of course that I am working on all policies with a
determination to stake my job'' as prime minister on implementing them,
Hatoyama said at a plenary session of the House of Councillors. ''The question
of Futemma's relocation site is naturally included'' in those policies, he
said.
During parliamentary debate earlier this week, Hatoyama said he would stake his
job on ''realizing all policies,'' but Friday's remarks went further by
specifically mentioning the base row.
The comment appeared to increase the likelihood that the question of his
resignation would surface if he fails to resolve the matter by his self-imposed
deadline.
But asked what he really meant, Hatoyama told reporters later in the day that
he has felt he is responsible ''for steadily implementing new things, and the
Futemma issue is one of them.''
''By saying, 'I'll stake my job on it,' I meant that I am working hard each and
every day with the resolve to stake my life on (the matter) with full
devotion,'' he added.
Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa described Hatoyama's remark as an ''attitude
of mind.''
''Politics won't move forward if he has to resign for saying, 'I will stake my
job on every issue,' even though he has only one body,'' Kitazawa told
reporters. ''He probably didn't mean it but expressed his attitude of mind with
those words.''
On the idea of relocating the base to Tokunoshima, a Kagoshima Prefecture
island about 200 kilometers northeast of the main island of Okinawa, Hatoyama
refrained from acknowledging it was being considered by the government, saying
at the session that ideas on the issue have yet to be finalized within the
government.
As to concern over the possible worsening of ties with the United States due to
the dispute, the prime minister said, ''The description of current relations as
at their worst point doesn't hold true.''
''Consultations are under way to deepen the Japan-U.S. alliance in a manner
suitable for the 21st century,'' he added.
Meanwhile, Hatoyama denied considering visiting Okinawa anytime soon, telling
reporters, ''Even though I want to visit Okinawa at least once because it's
important to listen to the feelings of the people of Okinawa Prefecture and
tell our feelings to them, this isn't such a timing yet.''
The prime minister also said he or Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano will
visit an area that would host a Futemma replacement facility once the
government finalizes its relocation proposal.
Under the current plan agreed by the two countries in 2006, the Futemma base
will be relocated from the crowded city of Ginowan to a coastal area of the
Marines' Camp Schwab in Nago, also in Okinawa, by 2014.
But with local calls growing for the base to be relocated outside of the
southernmost prefecture, which hosts the bulk of U.S. military forces in the
country, the government is seeking to find a new alternative site for the base.
Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima said Friday he will attend a mass rally to be
held in the prefecture on Sunday that will call for relocating the Futemma
facility outside the region, to which organizers are hoping to draw as many as
100,000 people.
The United States, however, has said it prefers the existing relocation plan or
a modification of it.
==Kyodo
2010-04-23 23:43:22


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