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United New Democratic Party Chairman Sohn Hak-kyu appeared on TV and said the people of the Jeolla provinces can withdraw their support for the UNDP at any time if the party fails to show voters a new and improved face. Sohn said existing UNDP lawmakers from the Jeolla region must be replaced by fresh and able candidates. The head of the Grand National Party¡¯s committee in charge the party¡¯s nominations for National Assembly candidates said he intends to go ¡°beyond factional lines.¡± The traditional stronghold of the GNP has been the Gyeongsang provinces.
The Gyeongsang and Jeolla provinces are special regions in general elections. In the 2004 race, GNP candidates swept 60 out of 68 constituencies in the Gyeongsang region, while the Uri Party -- the predecessor of the UNDP -- and the Democratic Party won 30 out of 31 constituencies in the Jeolla provinces. Once a candidate had the blessing of the party in control of the region, a victory was guaranteed. Candidates who wouldn¡¯t have stood a chance if they had run in competitive urban constituencies had guaranteed seats in the Gyeongsang and Jeolla regions once they were nominated. And these lawmakers had been parading around as if they were leading figures in their parties.
As a result, lawmakers from the Gyeongsang and Jeolla regions who had been elected multiple times there have reportedly been interested only in who will be in charge of party nominations this time, and none in National Assembly business. In a New Year¡¯s survey conducted by the Kookje Daily News circulated in the Busan and South Gyeongsang regions, only 6.1 percent of Busan residents, 7.4 percent of Ulsan residents and 13.8 percent of South Gyeongsang Province residents felt their lawmakers had done a good job representing their constituencies.
Residents in other regions are sick and tired of such lawmakers as well. The Maeil Shinmun and Kwangju Ilbo dailies, leading newspapers in the Daegu-North Gyeongsang and Gwangju-South Jeolla regions respectively, conducted their own New Year¡¯s surveys, which showed that 66.3 percent of respondents in the Maeil Shinmun questionnaire and 56.4 percent of Kwangju Ilbo respondents wanted to see new lawmakers representing their region. In the Busan, Ulsan and South Gyeongsang regions, 54.2 percent of residents (Hangil Research) wanted new lawmakers, as did 71.8 percent of residents in North Jeolla Province (RealMeter).
It¡¯s not going to be easy to replace veteran lawmakers there. Already rumors are rampant within the GNP of backroom dealings among pro-Lee Myung-bak and pro-Park Geun-hye lawmakers seeking to win party nominations. Such benefits are highly likely to be bestowed upon veteran lawmakers representing the Gyeongsang region. At in the UNDP, a handful of leading lawmakers representing the Jeolla region who played key roles in getting Sohn elected party chairman, are reportedly acting as if they have virtually been guaranteed nominations and everyone is lining up in front of their offices. The main goal of the Democratic Party¡¯s offer to merge with the UNDP is to divvy up the safe seats in the Jeolla region.
It¡¯s time to replace old trees with new ones. Looking 10 to 20 years down the road, we have no choice but to seek out new blood, such as globally savvy business executives in their 40s, progressive former bureaucrats, and innovative academics, so these people can prepare our political system for the future. Voters must judge a party¡¯s desire to change by the efforts it makes in trying to nominate new faces that fit these descriptions.
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