Rival parties devoted to defending home turf

Voters listen to speeches from Saenuri Party candidate Ahn Sang-soo and the party’s chairman Kim Moo-sung during campaigning for the April 29 parliamentary elections in Seogu and Ganghwa-B district in Incheon, Monday. / Yonhap

By Jun Ji-hye

The ruling and opposition parties mobilized forces Monday to defend their respective traditional support bases with just two days to go before National Assembly by-elections.

Ruling Saenuri Party Chairman Rep. Kim Moo-sung made his 11th visit to Ganghwa-B district to give his backing to the party’s runner, former Incheon Mayor Ahn Sang-soo.

“The ruling party must win this district,” Kim told reporters upon his arrival.

Kim highlighted the issue of national security, saying that Gwanghwa is the northernmost area near the inter-Korean border.

“The candidate from the governing camp, which always makes national security a priority, must be elected here,” he said. The area has historically had a conservative tendency due to its location.

The Saenuri Party was in a stronger position in the initial stages in the constituency because it was vacated by its former lawmaker Ahn Deok-soo. The Supreme Court declared Ahn’s occupation of the seat to be invalid on March 12, and convicted his aide in charge of accounting for violating the Public Official Election Act.

However, the situation has become somewhat volatile after a bribery scandal involving deceased Keangnam Enterprises Chairman Sung Woan-jong and a number of governing camp figures erupted in early April.

Recent surveys showed that the ruling party’s Ahn is in a neck and neck race with Shin Dong-geun of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD).

Other senior members of the governing camp tried to meet voters by walking the streets around the region. The party has been regarding the district as a prerequisite to its win in the crucial general elections in 2016.

NPAD Chairman Rep. Moon Jae-in went to the Seogu-B constituency in Gwangju, a traditional support base for liberal parties.

Liberal voters in the region have been divided because former justice minister and opposition heavyweight Chun Jung-bae is running as an independent candidate against the NPAD’s Cho Young-teck. Given this, Moon stressed that voters should unite to cast a block vote against the Park Geun-hye administration.

“If the opposition bloc is split again, the move to change the government will be fruitless,” he said. “I ask Gwangju citizens to unite the divided opposition camp into one.”

Moon stressed that the NPAD is changing because factional disputes within the party have been considerably reduced.

“If voters give us their support this time, we will definitely regain power in the 2017 presidential election,” he said.

Moon then moved to the Gwanak-B district in Seoul, which was also regarded as the opposition’s home turf. The constituency has been divided in the wake of a declaration of the NPAD’s former senior advisor Chung Dong-young to run for the Union of the People party.

Liberal candidates have beaten conservatives in the Gwanak constituency since the first ever democratic general elections in 1988. But a recent survey showed that the NPAD’s Jung Tae-ho is running neck and neck with the Saenuri Party’s Oh Shin-hwan.

The largest opposition party said that it has mobilized all its lawmakers to visit every part of constituencies until polling day.

A total of four seats ― Gwanak-B in Seoul; Jungwon in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province; Seogu-B in Gwangju; and Ganghwa-B in Incheon ― are up for grabs.

Follow Jun Ji-hye on Twitter @TheKopJihye