西之表市長に八板氏再選　馬毛島基地に反対―鹿児島

　任期満了に伴う鹿児島県西之表市長選は３１日投開票され、無所属現職の八板俊輔氏（６７）が、自民党県連が推薦する無所属新人で市商工会長の福井清信氏（７１）を破り、再選を果たした。投票率は８０．１７％。
　米軍空母艦載機の離着陸訓練（ＦＣＬＰ）の移転先として、防衛省が同市の無人島、馬毛島で進める自衛隊基地建設計画の是非が争点だった。反対派の八板氏が勝利したものの、福井氏との票差はわずか１４４票で、基地建設に対する民意は割れた形だ。今後、政府の動きに影響が出る可能性もある。（2021/01/31-23:29）

Nishinoomote Mayor Shunsuke Yaita, 67, was re-elected Sunday, receiving support for his rejection of a plan to build a Self-Defense Forces base in the Kagoshima Prefecture city in southwestern Japan.
   Independent candidate Yaita defeated his only contender, local commerce chamber head Kiyonobu Fukui, 71, who was backed by the prefectural chapter of the Liberal Democratic Party. Voter turnout was 80.17 pct.
   The SDF base, to be built on the uninhabited island of Mageshima, part of Nishinoomote, is set to host field carrier landing practice, or FCLP, for U.S. carrier-borne aircraft.
   But Yaita exceeded Fukui only by a narrow margin of 144 votes, showing a divide among Nishinoomote residents over the base plan.
   During his campaign, Yaita stressed concerns about the negative environmental impact of the base plan and claimed that the current Japan-U.S. status of forces agreement is not enough to protect local residents from possible problematic behavior of U.S. military personnel.