By Kim Ji-soo
Opposition parties have agreed to field unified candidates in key electoral districts in the April 27 by-elections to compete against the ruling Grand National Party.
As candidate registration began Tuesday, opposition parties decided to put forth Lee Bong-soo of the People’s Participation Party as their unified candidate in Gimhae B district in South Gyeongsang Province. He will run against ruling party candidate Kim Tae-ho, a former governor of the province. If Lee wins, he will secure a valuable National Assembly seat for his party and its chief, Rhyu Si-min, who is expected to run in the 2012 presidential election. The People’s Participation Party currently has no seats in the unicameral parliament.
On Monday opposition parties said they would not field a candidate in Bundang B district, throwing all their weight behind Sohn Hak-kyu, candidate and chairman of the main opposition Democratic Party. Choi Moon-sun, the DP’s candidate for the Gangwon governorship will appear as a unified opposition candidate against Ohm Ki-young of the ruling party. Both Choi and Ohm formerly served as president of MBC. In Suncheon, South Jeolla Province, the opposition candidate is Kim Seon-dong of the Democratic Labor Party.
This is the third time since the June 2 local elections last year that opposition parties have joined forces. By doing so they may well be seeking votes by tapping into voters’ discontent with the Lee Myung-bak administration ahead of general and presidential elections in 2012. With the administration in its fourth year, it has become beleaguered with a chronic foot-and-mouth outbreak, the worst tension with North Korea in years and soaring inflation.
Opposition party insiders are forecasting that a unified candidate would raise the chances of winning by at least 5 to 10 percentage points. In response, the GNP is putting forth its star legislators in crucial districts up for contention in the by-elections.