Tokyo, January 22 (RHC)-- Voters on the Japanese island of Okinawa have re-elected a mayor opposed to the relocation of a major U.S. military base. Local officials agreed to a deal last month that would move the base from a densely populated urban area to a more remote location.

A decades-long movement of Okinawa residents has opposed the base altogether and pushed for ousting U.S. forces off the island, citing environmental concerns and sexual assaults by U.S. soldiers on local residents.

The mayor of Nago, Susumu Inamine, campaigned on a pledge to block construction of the replacement site. The government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had tried to swing the election in favor of Inamine’s opponent early this month by offering the prospect of hundreds of millions in public funding.