ed Race back on track
Candidates must face off fiercely over policies
With software mogul Ahn Cheol-soo’s sudden withdrawal, the presidential election has narrowed down to a two-horse race pitting conservatives against liberals.
Ruling Saenuri Party candidate Park Geun-hye and Moon Jae-in, her rival from the main opposition Democratic United Party (DUP), registered for the Dec. 19 poll Sunday and will launch their 22-day campaigns Tuesday through Dec. 18.
The race is quite thrilling because it is a battle between a woman and a man ― for the first time in our political history ― and between industrialization and pro-democracy forces. It also could turn into a proxy war between former presidents from opposing sides of the country’s political spectrum due to their close associations with the candidates.
Park, 60, is the daughter of late President Park Chung-hee who laid the groundwork for the nation’s development but still draws fire for suppressing our nascent democracy during his 18-year rule. In contrast, Moon, 59, served as chief of staff for the late President Roh Moo-hyun who won fame for his efforts to make society more democratic and open but still faces attacks for being incompetent while in office.
What draws our utmost attention is the effect Ahn’s sudden departure will have on the election outcome. Ordinarily, Moon would be expected to receive a big boost from quitting the race but the discord in the opposition camp revealed in the course of the merger talks reportedly annoyed Ahn and his supporters significantly. The situation may not be comfortable for the Moon campaign, given that the former independent contender is out of town to reflect on his move.
It’s regrettable that Ahn’s promise to terminate ``politics of hatred and division’’ won’t be able to be kept for the time being but we expect him to continue his devotion to realizing the tall task as he had promised earlier.
The two leading candidates are also facing daunting tasks to become the president.
Park needs to expand her support base by getting closer to the center, in addition to her current lock on the conservative electorate. To this end, she will have to hone her campaign pledges for economic justice, diplomacy, national unification and political reform more elaborately. She drew support from former Prime Minister Lee Hoi-chang Saturday and this will surely solidify her position as the standard bearer of the conservative camp.
Moon, for his part, must be in a hurry to patch up relations with Ahn. As a first step, his top election campaigners gave up their posts Saturday in an apparent bid to let him form a new team that will include Ahn’s supporters. This will be crucial, considering that if Ahn refuses to help Moon on the campaign trail, many of his supporters may turn to Park and abstain from voting. Moon will have to prioritize his pledges for better relations with North Korea and step up measures to democratize the economy to win the hearts and minds of voters.
It is encouraging that this election, which has often been criticized for being the most bizarre ever because of a heap of uncertain elements, including the protracted single candidacy issue, is back on track. Now the contenders should face off fiercely over policies through TV debates or other means. In the process, they must offer solutions and let voters judge their policies and solutions.
The next five years will be a challenging period during which the nation will be haunted by low growth, polarization and the changing landscape in Northeast Asia among others. That’s why people should be extremely cautious in casting their ballots on Dec. 19.