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Tue, March 9, 2021 | 00:37
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Ruling Saenuri remains largest party
새누리 원내 1당 지켜냈다
Posted : 2012-04-12 00:06
Updated : 2012-04-12 00:06
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Opposition sweeps Seoul, falters in provinces in April 11 polls

By Park Si-soo

The ruling Saenuri Party managed to maintain its largest-party status in Wednesday’s National Assembly elections despite the main opposition Democratic United Party’s (DUP) sweeping victories in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province.

Out of 48 seats up for grabs in Seoul, the Saenuri Party won or was leading in 15 constituencies centered around the upscale Gangnam district as of midnight.

A big boost for the ruling party, led by Park Geun-hye, came from a better-than-expected performance in Gangwon and Chungcheong provinces.

Voters in Seoul and its neighboring areas gave a collective vote of no confidence in the incumbent Lee Myung-bak administration, which was balanced by a strong tendency in swing-vote provinces to opt for stability.

As of 11:30 p.m., the Saenuri Party had won or was leading in 127 out of a total of 246 constituencies with the DUP carrying 107, according to the National Election Commission. The United Progress Party (UPP), the DUP’s ally, had won or was leading in six, it said.

The results favorable to the ruling party were a great departure from early predictions that the alliance of the DUP and the UPP would have an easy win.

The ruling party has come under fire for months after it was embroiled in a string of unsavory scandals that erupted between late 2011 and early this year.

Saenuri Party leader Park, a presidential hopeful, has overseen efforts to rebuild the beleaguered ruling party and has been at the forefront of its election campaign. The daughter of the late former President Park Chung-hee was elected as one of the party’s proportional representation candidates.

The outcome has become a major boon for Park just eight months before the presidential vote.

Some political heavyweights loyal to President Lee, including former ruling party leader Hong Joon-pyo, lost to their opposition rivals, weakening the support base of Lee in the ruling party.

Hong, a four-term lawmaker, conceded defeat and announced he was retiring from politics after exit polls predicted his defeat by a wide margin.

The Saenuri Party dominated districts in its home turf, the southeastern Gyeongsang provinces, while the DUP almost swept its home base in the southwestern Jeolla provinces.

The final voter turnout was 54.3 percent, 8.2 percentage points higher than four years ago. Nearly 40.18 million eligible voters, 80 percent of the country’s 50 million population, cast ballots at 13,470 polling stations nationwide.

The National Assembly is comprised of 246 directly contested and 54 proportional representation seats, the latter being allocated to parties according to the total numbers of votes they receive. Each voter was asked to cast two ballots, one for a candidate and the other for a party.

새누리 원내 1당 지켜냈다
새누리당이 4ㆍ11 총선에서 과반에 육박하는 선전을 펼치며 1당을 지켜냈다. 민주통합당은 '정권심판론'을 바탕으로 서울과 경기 등 수도권에서 약진했지만 '선거의 여왕'으로 불리는 '박근혜의 힘'에 크게 밀려 1당 탈환에 실패했을 뿐 아니라 통합진보당과의 연대에도 불구하고 실질적인 '여소야대'의 상황을 조성하는데 실패할 가능성이 커졌다. 다만 민주당은 서울과 경기의 선전을 바탕으로 민심의 바로미터인 수도권에서 약진했고, 새누리당은 강원과 충청에서 승리를 거뒀다. 특히 새누리, 민주 등 어느 당도 단독 과반을 차지하지 못할 것으로 보여 대통령 선거를 8개월 앞둔 상황에서 진보-보수 세력에 절묘한 견제와 균형을 준 민심의 현주소가 드러났다. KBS는 11시10분 현재 새누리당이 비례대표를 포함해 148석(비례 25석)을 차지할 것으로 예측다. 과반인 151석에 3석 모자른 1당이다. 민주당은 131석(21석)에 그칠 것으로 예상됐고 통합진보당은 13석(6석), 선진당 5석(2석), 무소속 3석 등이다. 선거연대를 이룬 민주당과 통합진보당의 의석 수를 합치면 144석으로 새누리당에 4석 뒤진다. SBS는 11시 현재 새누리당 150석, 민주당 130석, 통합진보당 12석이 예상된다고 보도했다.
Emailpss@koreatimes.co.kr Article ListMore articles by this reporter
Ruling party pulls off majority victory with 152 seats
Korea's ruling party won an outright majority in Wednesday's parliamentary elections in a dramatic upset victory expected to serve as a major boon to its leader and presidential ho...
Voter turnout beats estimates
The voter turnout of 54.3 percent for Wednesday’s National Assembly elections was higher than the previous parliamentary polls in 2008. ...
Winners
Elections, like life, are full of ups and downs. In Jae-geun, the widow of pro-democracy activist and politician Kim Geun-tae, clinched a parliamentary seat despite the fact that h...
Losers
A former leader of the ruling Saenuri Party conceded defeat Wednesday after he fell behind his rival by a double-digit margin, and announced he would retire from politics....









 
 
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