Former House of Representatives Speaker Yohei Kono called Tuesday's move by the central government to sue Okinawa Gov. Takeshi Onaga over his rejection of the approval to start work on a base in the prefecture to replace U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma "a denial of local autonomy," according to domestic media reports.

Kono, who as foreign minister was involved in Japan's negotiations with the United States concerning the Futenma base 20 years ago, held a lecture in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, on Tuesday night, in which he was quoted as calling the suing of Onaga over the base issue "a denial of democracy," NHK reported.

While pointing out the necessity of removing the dangers the current Futenma base poses to residents where it is located in the crowded city of Ginowan, he criticized the "unilateral demand" by the central government that the governor revoke permission to conduct landfill work off the coast of Henoko in the city of Nago, where the replacement base is being planned.

Kono was foreign minister when Japan negotiated with the U.S. government on how to reduce the burden of hosting bases in the prefecture after anti-base sentiment flared up in the wake of the 1995 rape of an Okinawan schoolgirl by U.S. servicemen.

Kono, who retired from politics in 2009, is the father of Taro Kono, who is chairman of the National Security Commission and state minister in charge of administrative reform.