Parties gauge impact of local by-elections, seek remedies to their problems


The triumph of civic activist Park Won-soon in the Seoul mayoral by-election heralds a major shift in the country’s political landscape as the rival parties strive to revamp to regain public trust.

Political experts say the outcome of Wednesday’s showdown clearly reflected widespread public disenchantment with established politicians for following their own interests rather than those of citizens.

Each political party is now seeking to conduct an exhaustive overhaul with some even calling for a change to their party name. The possibility of civil society forces creating a new party on the back of their growing popularity has also been floated.

Lawyer and leading civil society figure Park took the helm of the Seoul municipality with 53.4 percent of the vote, 7.2 percentage points more than ruling Grand National Party candidate Na Kyung-won.

With the result seen as a gauge of public sentiment ahead of general and parliamentary elections next year, some members of the GNP and the main opposition Democratic Party called on their leaderships to resign in a show of their commitment to reform.

“To take responsibility for the electoral defeat, the leadership including leader Rep. Hong Joon-pyo should resign en masse and form an emergency committee (to lead our party),” GNP Supreme Council member Rep. Won Hee-ryong said during a meeting of senior party officials.

Some reformist GNP lawmakers even demanded that their party alter its key policy principles in favor of progressive voters suffering from issues ranging from education and housing to unemployment. Many of them supported the independent liberal opposition candidate Park.

President Lee Myung-bak said that he would take the electoral outcome seriously, pledging more efforts for people’s livelihoods.

“I will particularly keep in mind what the young voters have shown through the by-elections. The government will conscientiously work to help enhance people’s livelihoods while staying humble,” he was quoted by his spokesperson as saying.

Though the opposition won the Seoul by-election, the DP is not in a position to bask in the euphoria as the decades-old political machine failed to field a member in the race.

Its performance in the provincial by-elections was also poor. In the by-elections for 11 lower-level administrative chiefs, the DP secured only two seats with the GNP winning eight of them.

“I feel the strong responsibilityity for our defeats in the provincial by-elections. I am proud that we led Park to win in the Seoul by-election, but feel sorry to you all and citizens for and ashamed of failing to field our DP candidate in the race,” DP leader Rep. Sohn Hak-kyu said during a general meeting of his party lawmakers.

“We should be humble in the face of the stinging rebukes and warnings from the public. Through the elections, I once again confirmed that the unification of the opposition forces is our way to go.”

Experts anticipated that the GNP may bring former GNP chairwoman and strong presidential hopeful Park Geun-hye to the forefront of the party operation to seize on her wide public support to shore up public support.

“Although the electoral outcome might have negatively affected her status as an opinion poll forerunner, she still remains the ruling bloc’s most powerful figure. The GNP may reorganize itself while rallying its forces around her,” Yoon Pyung-joong, political philosophy professor at Hanshin University, told The Korea Herald.

“Seeking a tremendous change, the GNP will also strive to inject a massive fresh blood (of young capable people) into it. One of the major tasks facing her will also be how to differentiate herself from the president whose public support declines as his term nears its tail end.”

While the GNP is faltering in the aftermath, the DP will also struggle to swing the political pendulum in its favor ahead of the major political events next year.

Through the by-elections, the DP realized that it might not be able to lead the liberal opposition bloc as civil society leaders such as entrepreneur-turned-professor Ahn Cheol-soo and other outside figures have emerged as formidable political forces.

As public mistrust of existing political parties grows, a “third political force” possibly led by a civil society leader could emerge, observers said. Park and Ahn dismissed the speculation, saying they have “never thought about it.”

“The elections this time have created a chance to form a third political force as citizens call for change. Even some from the existing parties may come out and seek a new group,” Lee Chung-hee, politics professor at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, said.

“The public have turned their back against established politicians as the parties failed to serve their own purposes ― studying social conflicts and trying to address them. They have only focused on how to grab the power or stay in the power.”

Witnessing civil society leaders stepping into the political arena, some experts expressed concern that their moves could hamper their role to keep the government and other vested interests in check.

“Civil society’s independence, neutrality and ability to offer constructive criticism have long helped our society mature and advance. As it steps into the realm of the real politics, some could question their identity and criticism could be raised over that,” Yoon said.

By Song Sang-ho (sshluck@heraldcorp.com)