Go to contents

Can the opposition party safeguard its stronghold in July 30 by-election?

Can the opposition party safeguard its stronghold in July 30 by-election?

Posted July. 29, 2014 06:44,   

한국어

Will the NPAD retain its stronghold or will the Saenuri Party win the region?

Suncheon-Gokseong, South Jeolla Province, has emerged as the center of interests in the July 30 by-elections. The main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) sent bigwigs including Chung Dong-young, the party’s standing advisor, to the region, the party’s stronghold.

At the beginning, many expected Seo Gap-won, a NPAD candidate, to win comfortably. However, polls showed that Lee Jeong-hyun, the ruling party’s candidate, was leading between early last week and Thursday when the announcement of poll results was banned. “Lee was leading even in an internal confidential survey over the weekend. It’s not an exaggeration,” an NPAD source said. “If we give in our stronghold to President Park Geun-hye’s confidant, our party has to shut down.”

The political community says that Lee’s pledge that he would advance the region’s development by a decade with a large budget is working to the residents. In addition, it is also appealing to the residents in that as the elected person’s term is less than two years, they can replace the person if they do not like him. Many see that Seo, the NPAD candidate, hit a setback for resorting to regionalism, which is perceived as old politics by the residents, after saying that the head of South Jeolla Police Agency and the chief of Suncheon Police were removed from their position because they are from Jeolla Province.

In response, the NPAD plans to appeal to voters again. A ruling party source said, “We’re confident about Lee but it won’t be easy to attack the NPAD’s stronghold.” The Saenuri Party last won in the election in Jeolla Province in 1996 general elections when Kang Hyeon-wook, a former lawmaker of the then New Korea Party, was elected in Gunsan.