Parties gear up for June 4 local elections

Chung Mong-joon, right in left photo, the ruling Saenuri Party candidate for Seoul mayoral election, gives a carnation to the principal of his alma mater Choongang High School in Seoul as Thursday marks Teachers' Day. Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon in the right-hand photo declares his bid for reelection at the Seoul Metropolitan City Government, Thursday. / Yonhap

By Chung Min-uck

The nation's rival parties are heading for a full-fledged showdown in the lead up to the June 4 local elections.

The ruling Saenuri Party and the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) have recently completed their lineups. The party nominees started their registration as official candidates to the National Election Commission on Thursday which closes Friday.

Following the registration, the candidates will embark on campaigns for 13 days starting May 22.

Altogether, 17 provincial governor and city mayoral seats, as well as, posts for education superintendents and local assembly members are up for grabs in the upcoming elections.

Currently, the ruling party holds the majority of nine out of the 17 gubernatorial and mayoral posts.

"The only electioneering campaign tool that we currently consider is giving hope to the people," said Rep. Lee Wan-goo, floor leader of the Saenuri Party, Thursday, in the party's first meeting in preparation for the June 4 election. "This meeting, I must say, is not for winning elections but for setting up countermeasures for the ferry Sewol tragedy."

The June polls were long considered a litmus test to gauge public approval of President Park Geun-hye and her government.

But opinion polls show President Park's popularity, along with that of the governing Saenuri Party, is declining sharply following the government's incompetent and irresponsible response to last month's maritime accident of the Sewol ferry sinking which claimed the lives of hundreds of civilian.

According to the pollster Realmeter, the ruling party's approval rate dropped 15 percentage points from 53 percent to 38 percent last week in the wake of the disaster.

However, some experts say they disagree with speculation that the ruling party candidates would suffer in the upcoming race to the NPAD hopefuls.

"If the lingering sentiment of political distrust spreads across all age groups and many voters turn their back on casting ballots, the Saenuri Party may gain the upper hand," said Shin Yul, a professor of politics at Myongji University in Seoul. "An overall voting rate of below 40 percent will play favorable to the ruling party."

Voter turnout is one of the critical factors in deciding election results here as young voters are less enthusiastic about voting compared to elderly voters.

In Korea, voters in their 20s and 30s tend to support liberal candidates, whereas, voters in their 50s and older favor conservative candidates, with people in their 40s portrayed as swing voters.

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