As a counteraction against lawsuit of
national government for overtaking local policy decision in Okinawa, Government
of Okinawa indicted Government of Japan on Friday, seeking unlawfulness of the
suspension of power of Okinawan government. Governor Takeshi Onaga stepped into
another legal struggle to protest building United States Marine Base in Henoko
as an alternative facility of Futenma Air Base. It is highly unusual that
national and local governments simultaneously file lawsuits against each other.
It was December 2013 when former governor
Hirokazu Nakaima approved landfill in Henoko coastal area for building new
base, overturning his campaign promise to oppose the project. Ten month after
defeating Nakaima in a gubernatorial election with firm opposition to Henoko
landfill, Onaga canceled Nakaima’s approval this October. Minister of Land,
Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, Keiichi Ishii, decided to suspend
Onaga’s cancelation two weeks later and Government of Japan filed a lawsuit to
seek administrative subrogation.
Onaga requested examination on the issue to
Committee for Conflict Management between Natioal and Local Governments early
November. The committee, consisted with scholars on law study, dismissed the
request as inappropriate to deal with. Onaga took the next step, indicting
national government, with disappointment to the conclusion of the committee,
criticizing it as “regretful for denying committee’s own raison d’être.”
In the letter of complaint, Government of
Okinawa argued that the status quo in Okinawa, in which American military bases
were extremely concentrated, contradicted principle of local autonomy the Constitution
of Japan guaranteed, and construction of the military base against general will
of local people was violation of autonomy. It also criticized Ishii’s approval
of the request from Okinawa Defense Bureau for suspension of Onaga’s decision
to cancel landfill approval as inappropriate.
Onaga’s struggle in the court should be one
of his actions for stopping the construction of military base by all means.
Okinawa took a form of appeal lawsuit, which assumed dealing with appeals of
private citizens to remove illegal use of administrative power. It is possible
that the court does not accept the appeal from Okinawa. However, Okinawan government
expects the court to issue an order for suspending the construction in Henoko at
least until it makes a decision. The struggle between national and local government
gets further complicated.
No comments:
Post a Comment