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| This infographic shows the results of a poll of 503 adults conducted by Realmeter on April 29, where 51.9 percent said they support the fast tracking of reform bills regarding electoral reform and establishing a new investigative body against corruption. Courtesy of Realmeter |
By Jung Da-min
More than half of voters support the fast-tracking of reform bills, a poll showed Thursday.
In the poll of 503 adults over 19 conducted by Realmeter on Tuesday, 51.9 percent said they support fast-tracking the reform bills while 37.2 percent said it was the wrong decision.
The poll, which has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points with a 95 percent confidence level, was conducted after the reform bills were put on the fast track to a National Assembly vote by two special parliamentary committees late Monday and early Tuesday.
The decision came amid strong protests from the main opposition Liberty Korea Party.
The ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) teamed up with the progressive Justice Party (JP), the minor opposition Bareunmirae Party (BMP), and the Party for Democracy and Peace (PDP) to push forward the reform bills, while the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) staged an all-out protest to prevent them from doing so.
Support for the fast-tracking was high among people in their 30s and 40s but low in for those in their 60s and older, according to the poll.
Meanwhile, more than 1.6 million people have signed an online petition on the Cheong Wa Dae website calling for the disbandment of the LKP, ten days after the petition began April 22, and reaching a record-high since the presidential office started to run the online petition platform in August 2017.
On Wednesday, LKP floor leader Na Kyung-won alleged that there was "intervention by North Korea," behind the surge in the number of petitioners.
But critics here said such remarks would only offend the petitioners.
"The LKP is only focusing on satisfying its supporters while it could have just said it takes the petition as public sentiment," said news critic Kim Eo-jun, Thursday, during his daily radio program on TBS "Kim Eo-jun's News Factory."
Cheong Wa Dae said 97 percent of the visitors to its website were from South Korea, while 0.82 percent were from the U.S., 0.53 percent in Japan and 0.17 percent in Vietnam on April 29 when the number of visitors showed a sharp rise. It said 90.37 percent of visitors to the website were from home while 3.55 percent from Vietnam and 1.54 percent from the U.S. during March.
The number of petitioners demanding the disbandment of the ruling DPK has also surpassed the 200,000 threshold at which the presidential office's response is mandatory. Over 280,000 people have signed the petition against the ruling party within four days, since it was started on Monday.
The LKP is continuing its all-out protest after they failed to block the fast-tracking of the reform bills. The LKP lawmakers led by Chairman Hwang Kyo-ahn and floor leader Rep. Na Kyung-won gathered at a fountain square in front of the presidential office Thursday morning to stage a protest holding placards reading, "Punish dictatorship, protect the Constitution," and "Moon Jae-in stop."
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