ed Bizarre election continues
Candidates must not try to turn back clock
As the official campaigns for the Dec. 19 presidential election began Tuesday, voters hoped that the race would return to normal, emerging from the hitherto excessive obsession with the single opposition candidacy issue.
But things are far from such expectations and the bizarre situation is ongoing even after independent candidate Ahn Chelo-soo’s withdrawal. Despite voters’ hopes for an upgraded election, negative campaigning is also all the rage, to our dismay, and this raises fears that the forthcoming election may be the worst ever.
Most strange is that Ahn, the software mogul-turned-politician, still looms large over the electoral landscape. That’s because the main opposition Democratic United Party (DUP) still sees him as the sole savior who can ensure its victory in a tight two-horse race against the ruling Saenuri Party.
The DUP’s courting of the former Seoul National University professor and his followers is understandable, given that his exit from the race failed to produce the desired effect owing to Ahn loyalists’ frustration with the process of candidate unification in the opposition camp. Nonetheless, it’s a pity to see the nation’s second-largest party with as many as 127 lawmakers depending solely on the ''Ahn phenomenon’’ for its election victory.
It’s equally pathetic to see the governing party change its attitude toward Ahn overnight and stop criticizing him so as not to hurt his feelings. It’s not good either for the Saenuri Party to intervene to widen the crack between Ahn and the DUP’s Moon Jae-in.
Even worse is that Moon and his ruling party rival Park Geun-hye are trying to turn the clock back, indulging in mudslinging and false accusations.
Park and her camp attacked Moon as an avatar of the late former President Roh Moo-hyun, whose rule has been criticized as a failure for undermining social cohesion and mismanaging the economy. The Saenuri Party is even launching personal attacks against the DUP contender, alleging that Moon’s family is using an imported masterpiece chair worth millions of won and therefore he doesn’t deserve to represent the ordinary people. Later Moon’s side explained that the chair was bought secondhand at a very low price.
The DUP, for its part, has accused Park of being responsible for the overall mismanagement of the incumbent Lee Myung-bak administration. The liberal party has also highlighted the Saenuri Party candidate’s controversial views on Korea’s modern history, in particular her stance on her late father Park Chung hee’s 18-year autocratic rule.
Every regime has its merits and demerits and it’s necessary to evaluate them, especially ahead of elections. Yet what’s more important is candidates’ vision for the future and specific action plans for the next five years. In this regard, it’s disappointing that the two leading contenders have yet to present their respective campaign platforms to the voters.
Given corruption scandals implicating those in power in the current and past administrations, it’s not going too far to say that there should be as many debates as possible so that voters can examine the candidates thoroughly.
There is widespread pessimism that whoever wins, people’s livelihoods will remain the same at best and could worsen. In a democratic state, however, all things can change through elections and that’s why citizens should vote.