TOKYO, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- After three months in office, the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) is close to bringing to an end one of the most controversial episodes of its early days in power when Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama looks to give details of a concrete proposal to President Barack Obama on a way to mend a rift over the future of U.S. troops based in Futenma, Okinawa Prefecture.

    Since winning an election in August, the DPJ has said it would like to review the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) signed by the former governing Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and administration of George W. Bush in 2006.

    Under the agreement, the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma would be relocated from the center of the city of Ginowan to a less densely populated area of the prefecture, and 8,000 troops currently located there would be moved out of Japan to facilities in Guam. The U.S. has demanded a concrete proposal on the issue by Friday.

    In pushing for changing the agreement, the DPJ has at times seemed to be a party of contradictions without a unified goal or purpose, which has led to intense media scrutiny, anger in Okinawa Prefecture, and criticism from both U.S. and Japanese politicians.

　　UNDER FIRE

    Looking to make changes to the current SOFA agreement, the DPJ has pushed for high-level negotiations with the United States, and in the process received criticism for its handling of the affair. In an editorial on Thursday, the conservative Sankei Shinbun newspaper said that by prioritising national politics, the Hatoyama government has "created a loss of confidence in its ability to handle international affairs."

    Meanwhile, the Asahi Shimbun condemned DPJ indecisiveness on the issue in a Friday editorial. "Hatoyama has a responsibility as prime minister to minimize friction over the Futenma problem. As a first step, he should make his stance clear as soon as possible," the editorial said.

    The Yomiuri Shinbun also demanded that the issue is resolved as soon as possible. "An early resolution to the issue with the current relocation plan is earnestly sought by the U.S. government, the Okinawa prefectural government as well as the Nago city government, which is where the base's facilities would be relocated," said the newspaper.

    The government of the DPJ has handled the matter in a way that has led Washington to worry about Japan's commitment to its alliance with the United States. On an October visit to Japan, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates insisted that the current SOFA agreement signed between the two countries "may not be the perfect alternative for anyone, but it is the best alternative for everyone. And it is time to move on."

    Gates said that if Japan does not stick to the SOFA agreement, then there is a chance that the United States will not allocate funding to transfer U.S. marines to Guam in 2014.

    On a visit to Japan in November, Obama agreed to set up high-level talks between the two countries, but the U.S. position has been consistent: stick to the current agreement.