|
In National Assembly by-elections that took place in three areas on Wednesday, the Grand National Party won in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province. The Democratic Party won in Muan-Shinan districts of South Jeolla Province, while the People First Party won in the western Daejeon district. The symbolic ruling camp, the Uri Party, fielded a single candidate in Hwaseong, but faced humiliating defeat.
The GNP placed practically all of its bets on the western Daejeon district. That was under the view that the party needed to acquire the support of the Chungchung region, which is strategically important for the presidential election. In a Gallup poll conducted on April 11, 54.9 percent of the residents in that area supported the GNP, while only 9.9 percent supported the PFP. On top of that, the most popular presidential candidates, Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye, held support rallies there several times. But the support for the GNP and power of the two presidential hopefuls appeared to be mere illusions according to the results of the votes. This election clearly proved how unreliable support ratings can be involving the GNP and its presidential hopefuls.
From the beginning, the support enjoyed by the GNP was not hard earned, but simply the result of public dissatisfaction with the government¡¯s mismanagement of the country. Buoyed by such superficial support ratings, the GNP¡¯s two presidential hopefuls were exchanging jabs every day, while on the other side of the party, officials were busy taking bribes for nominations. It would be strange if the candidates were not shaken after the unstable ground underneath them starts to shake.
In Muan-Shinan, which is the home of former president Kim Dae-jung, his second son Hong-up was ultimately elected. He had served jail time for receiving billions of won (US$1=W927) in dirty money from businesses while his father was president. He was able to wear a lawmaker¡¯s badge by taking hostage the undecided minds of the region¡¯s voters. Hong-up had run for office vowing to ¡°recover¡± his tarnished image. It¡¯s not clear what he meant by recovering his image, but the result is that he did redeem his status at the expense of the pride and honor of the residents of his father¡¯s home region.
The Uri Party ended up continuing its track record of defeat in National Assembly elections. The Uri Party doesn¡¯t even seem to feel the pain of such defeat. That¡¯s why they are absorbed in formulating strategies to overturn the judgement of the public in presidential elections this December.
|
