The main opposition Grand National Party won Wednesday¡¯s nationwide local elections by a landslide, almost certainly sweeping at least 11 of 16 large city mayor and provincial governor seats except for the Jeolla provinces. Ballots counted as of midnight on Wednesday and exit polls conducted by the three major TV networks show the GNP certain to put up the mayors of Seoul and Incheon and the governor of Gyeonggi Province. The ruling Uri Party took only North Jeolla Province and was left flailing in the wake of the minor opposition Millennium Democratic Party in Gwangju and South Jeolla Province.
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Children play while their parents cast their ballot in local elections at a polling station in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province on Wednesday.
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It was the second time for the party to win so many cities and provinces since the 2002 elections.
GNP candidates for city mayors and provincial governors whose victory is almost certain include Oh Se-hoon as Seoul mayor, Kim Moon-soo as Gyeonggi governor, Ahn Sang-soo as mayor of Incheon, Chung Woo-taek as governor of North Chungcheong Province, Lee Wan-koo as South Chungcheong Province governor, Hur Nam-sik as Busan mayor, Kim Beom-il as Daegu mayor, Kim Gwan-yong as North Gyeongsang Province governor, Kim Tae-ho as South Gyeongsang Province governor, Park Maeng-woo as mayor of Ulsan and Kim Chin-sun as governor of Gangwon Province.
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President Roh Moo-hyun and First Lady Kwon Yang-sook cast their ballots in local elections at a polling station in Seoul on Wednesday.
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The GNP is also expected to win at least 160 or 70 percent of 230 seats for mayors of smaller cities, county governors and district chiefs. The opposition party was poised to win all 25 elections for district chiefs of Seoul, and almost 90 percent in the 66 constituencies in the metropolitan area. The results are tipped to generate furious finger-pointing between President Roh Moo-hyun and the Uri Party leadership and are expected to bring a sea change in the nation¡¯s political landscape.
Voter turnout was estimated at 51.3 percent, 2.3 percentage points higher than in the 2002 local elections (48.9 percent) but lower than in the 2004 general elections (60.6 percent) and the 1998 local elections (52.7 percent). Those aged 19 and foreign residents who have lived here for more than three years were for the first time entitled to vote. Out of 3.7 million eligible voters, some 19 million went to polls.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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