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   04-08-2008 19:51 여성 남성
Majority Needed for Reform


People attentively listen to a candidate’s speech in Daejeon, Tuesday, one day before the National Assembly elections. Voting begins at 6 a.m. and ends at 6 p.m. today. / Korea Times

By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff Reporter

Chairman Kang Jae-sup of the governing Grand National Party (GNP) Tuesday appealed to voters to give solid support to the party's candidates in today's elections so that it can secure more than half of the seats in the National Assembly.

``The nation has not achieved a genuine change of government because the governing party is not the largest one in the legislative body,'' he said.

Rep. Kang claimed that the GNP needed to get more than half of parliamentary seats ``to help President Lee Myung-bak revive the economy.''

Kang added the economy was derailed by what he called the leftist regimes of the past decade.

Other GNP leaders said the governing party would safely win more than 160 seats in the elections, and would not rule out the possibility of the GNP's winning a comfortable majority of 168.

The figure will make the party become the majority on 16 National Assembly committees, which will help it seek major reform bills on its own.

GNP leaders argued that public opinion in Seoul and its satellite cities has become friendlier to GNP candidates as the election approaches.

They added GNP polls found candidates are outdistancing their rivals by wider margins.

As for election results, pollsters said that votes by those undecided and voter turnout would be major factors determining the election results.

A Chosun Ilbo newspaper poll found the number of undecided voters has increased as the elections have approached, standing at more than 40 percent in late March.

Governing party leaders said GNP polls found these undecided voters were looking to their candidates as alternatives.

Meanwhile, the United Democratic Party (UDP) lawmakers said increasing numbers of undecided voters in Gyeonggi Province have expressed their support for the main opposition party.

The main opposition party said it would secure 80 or more seats.

Pollsters also said voter turnout will be very low in today's elections but it will be difficult to predict which party could benefit from the possibly low participation as several factors could play out in the elections.

GNP Spokeswoman Cho Yoon-seon claimed the main opposition UDP held back President Lee's reform drive in major policy areas in the name of checks and balances in the parliament.

``Wednesday's election asks voters to make a decision between the proactive candidates and retroactive ones,'' she said.

Cho urged voters to participate in elections to help the President move forward his reform in major policy areas.

hkang@koreatimes.co.kr

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