The Defense Ministry came under fresh fire Tuesday for allegedly trying to meddle with the upcoming mayoral election in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, the host city for the Futenma U.S. air base.
Defense Minister Naoki Tanaka told reporters his ministry has sent personnel to the prefecture to investigate the matter, which came to light after an opposition lawmaker raised the matter in the Diet.
Seiken Akamine of the Japanese Communist Party, citing email he says he has obtained, told the Lower House Budget Committee that the bureau instructed its various divisions by email to find out which of its personnel's Ginowan-based relatives are eligible to vote and created a list of them in January.
(Japan Times)
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