Parties start gearing up for June's local elections

SEOUL, Feb. 18 (Yonhap) -- With local elections little over 100 days away, rival
political parties are stepping up campaigning, regarding the poll as a vote of
confidence in the administration of President Lee Myung-bak.
The race for the June 2 elections began early this month with preliminary
candidates registering to run for governors, mayors, provincial and city
councilors, and superintendents of education in provinces and municipalities.
Official candidates are required to register for the elections on May 18-19 and
the formal campaigning period begins on May 20, according to the National
Election Commission.
Results of the elections, the first to be held nationwide since President Lee
took office two years ago, are expected to serve as a crucial litmus test of
public sentiment towards the conservative government and a prelude to
parliamentary elections and the presidential poll slated for 2012. They will also
help reshape the power structures of the ruling Grand National Party (GNP) and
the main opposition Democratic Party (DP), according to political watchers.
About 4,000 seats for administrators and legislators for provincial, municipal
and smaller autonomous units are up for grab in the June elections with the GNP's
approval ratings hovering around 40 percent in several political opinion polls.
The GNP is seeking to win popular support for its policy efforts to revive the
economy, while the DP is urging voters to punish Lee and his ruling party for
successive policy failures. The DP, in particular, has pushed to form a coalition
with other opposition parties.
With the approach of the election day, parties are swiftly getting into an
election mode, reorganizing their organizations, scouting influential contenders
and establishing political strategies for the elections.
Fierce in-house competition -- between the pro-Lee faction and the rival faction
led by former chairwoman Park Geun-hye in the GNP, and between a mainstream led
by chairman Chung Sye-kyun and lawmaker Chung Dong-young and a fringe group in
the DP -- to secure nomination is expected as parties plan to soon organize
nomination committees in their central and local party organizations.
The ruling party and the opposition parties are expected to compete fiercely to
win seats in Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon. The Chungcheong area is also
expected to be a key electoral battleground with a controversy over the
government's decision to cancel planned relocation of key government offices into
the region gripping the country.
The government early last month announced that it will create a "science and
business hub" in Sejong City located 160 kilometers south of Seoul in South
Chungcheong Province instead of relocating government offices, saying the
relocation would hurt government efficiency. Whether the new plan will get
necessary parliamentary approval remains unclear, however, with regional
residents, opposition parties and even a faction within the ruling party
opposing.
The issue will likely decisively affect the voter sentiment in the Chungcheong
region if a consensus is not made at an early time. At stake is if the GNP will
be able to focus its energy on the local elections ending the factional chasm
over Sejong City.
The government's plans to renovate the country's four major rivers, revive the
economy, create more jobs and reform education will also likely emerge as major
issues in the elections.
sshim@yna.co.kr
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