The court-mediated settlement to the legal dispute between the national government and Okinawa Prefecture over relocation of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma should not just buy time for the Abe administration to take the political spotlight off the row ahead of upcoming elections, but should lead to serious talks between the two parties in an effort to achieve a mutually acceptable solution, including a possible alternative to the government's plan to build the replacement facility in the Henoko area of Nago in northern Okinawa.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's surprise move last Friday to agree to a settlement proposed by the Naha branch of the Fukuoka High Court does not in fact resolve anything. Both the national government and the prefecture will withdraw the suits filed against each other over Gov. Takeshi Onaga's revocation last year of the prefecture's approval — issued in 2013 by his predecessor — for the government's work to reclaim land off Henoko to build the Futenma replacement facility.
Abe has ordered the reclamation work off Henoko halted in accordance with the terms of the settlement. But his administration took another step on Monday to instruct the governor to "correct" his revocation of the prefecture's permit under the law on local governments. Onaga is certain to challenge the instruction, which will most likely lead to another lawsuit seeking to get it withdrawn. Both the government and the prefecture say they will honor a ruling by the judiciary when it's finalized. But the governor, who was elected in 2014 on the campaign promise of halting construction of the new facility in Nago, is said to be ready to pursue other means to resist the project if it loses the next court battle.