YONHAP NEWS

Parties make last-ditch pitch in parliamentary elections

   By Shin Hae-in
SEOUL, April 7 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's political parties Monday made last-ditch efforts to woo undecided voters just two days ahead of the country's quadrennial parliamentary elections.

   Political pundits say the increased number of swing voters and the voter turnout on the April 9 polling day will likely decide the fate of parties with President Lee Myung-bak's conservative party widely expected to secure a solid majority in the National Assembly.

   Party leaders on Monday continued campaigning in Seoul and surrounding areas, the country's largest constituency as up to half of its electoral districts are experiencing neck-and-neck competition between rival candidates.

   "Please help us in keeping this self-righteous government and the ruling party in check," said Kang Geum-sil, chairwoman of the main opposition United Democratic Party's election committee, during a campaign rally in Seoul. "Your help is crucial for the sake of the nation's 99 percent common people."
The party, which holds 136 seats in the outgoing 299-seat parliament, is lagging far behind the ruling Grand National Party (GNP) in popularity polls, and is predicted to shrink drastically after the elections.

   Ruling party leader Kang Jae-sup rebutted the rival party's claim, saying that voters must help in creating a strong ruling party to ensure a smooth-running administration during President Lee's five-year tenure.

   "We need your support in retrieving the 10 years the country lost under incompetent liberal governments," he said during a campaign rally in Gyeonggi province, just outside of Seoul. "We will be your party, standing by your side and working solely for your sake."
Despite a recent slip in popularity, the ruling GNP is expected to secure a solid majority in the unicameral Assembly, enabling the passing of conservative legislation to back the new government. The party saw a surge in its popularity following President Lee's landslide victory in last year's presidential election.

   But its initial hopes of winning two-thirds of the Assembly seats have been fading because of a factional feud that split the conservative bloc.

   The percentage of floating voters increased by nearly 20 percentage points recently, showing that many of those who initially supported Lee's party have chosen to delay making a decision.

   In an April 3 survey released by the National Election Commission, 52.5 percent of voters have yet to decide on who they will vote for.

   Voter turnout is expected to be low with only 63.4 percent saying they will definitely vote, 13.8 percentage points lower than the same-period poll in the last parliamentary elections in 2004.

   As the actual turnout is usually lower than poll estimates, analysts predict the actual number of voters will be around 50 percent, with the lower turnout generally benefiting the conservative ruling party. Liberal opposition parties usually benefit from a higher turnout. Lower turnout often means the liberal younger generation staying away from the polling stations due to their apathy to politics.
The voter turnout was 63.9 percent in the 1996 elections, 57.2 percent in 2000 and 60.6 percent in 2004.

   The election watchdog said the number of voters eligible to cast ballots on election day is 37.8 million, or 76.7 percent of the nation's population of 49.3 million.

   Voters are to cast two ballots -- one for the candidate running in their district and the other for the party that they support -- with 245 constituencies to be filled by direct vote.

   The remaining 54 parliamentary slots will be filled with candidates to be picked in proportion to votes cast for each party.

   A total of 1,119 candidates are competing for parliamentary seats in a 4.5-to-1 competition ratio.

   hayney@yna.co.kr
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