Gyeonggi governor takes big lead in presidential polls
Gyeonggi Governor Lee Jae-myung, center, holds a rose he received from a supporter at the entrance of Gwangju City Hall, Friday, during his visit to the city. Yonhap
By Jung Da-min
Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung is taking a big lead in recent opinion surveys on potential presidential candidates, with a year and a month left until the next presidential election to be held in March 2022.
His rise for consideration in the next presidential race is attributable to his push for policies, with other potential contenders showing no presence for now, according to political analysts.
A Research and Research survey of 1,010 adults conducted from Tuesday to Thursday last week showed Lee ranking top garnering support of 32.5 percent, followed by Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl with 17.5 percent and ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) Chairman Rep. Lee Nak-yon with 13 percent.
This was the first time for his support rate to surpass the 30 percent mark.
Another poll by local pollster Realmeter conducted on 2,529 adults from Monday to Friday last week also showed Governor Lee ahead with support of 23.4 percent, up 5.2 percentage points from the previous week. Yoon and Lee ranked second and third, with 18.5 percent and 13.6 percent respectively.
Governor Lee's support in the Realmeter poll also reached the highest level recorded by the agency, while Chairman Lee's support dropped for the ninth consecutive month.
Yoon's support had been increasing during the fourth quarter of last year when his conflict with former Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae over the Moon Jae-in government's prosecutorial reform policy often made headlines, and he gained support from anti-Moon conservative voters. Yoon's support as a potential presidential candidate was 23.9 percent last December but has since decreased by 5.5 percentage points to 18.5 percent.
Lee, who used to be the top potential presidential candidate, has not impressed the people much after taking over the leadership of the ruling party. He was further cornered after his recent remarks about giving special pardons to jailed former Presidents Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye met a huge backlash from party members and the public, and was ultimately rejected by President Moon Jae-in.
Political watchers noted Governor Lee's fast rise to become the leading candidate can be attributed to his strong drive in pushing forward policies and a philosophy for welfare for the socially vulnerable.
They say Lee has impressed the people with his efforts to contain the COVID-19 outbreak in the province by taking strict measures against organizations and businesses that were highly likely to cause a rapid spread of the virus, and his welfare policies such as providing anti-disaster relief funding to all residents of the province.
Late last month, the governor presented a plan to provide a 100,000 won payment to each provincial resident in an effort to boost the stagnant economy, which would be the second relief handout by the local government during the COVID-19 pandemic, following the first in May last year.
Political watchers said, however, that as it took a year for him to take the lead in polls, the situation can still change over the remaining 13 months leading up to the presidential election.