DP basks in election victory; GNP grapples with debacle
2010-06-03 18:42
The elections were seen as a mid-term evaluation of the Lee administration’s performance and as crucial since it could remap the political landscape ahead of the 2012 presidential vote.
The GNP secured two seats in the hotly-contested Seoul metropolitan area -- one for Seoul mayor and the other for Gyeonggi governor. It won four other posts in their traditional strongholds of Busan, Daegu, Ulsan and North Gyeongsang Province.
Oh Se-hoon of the GNP won reelection as Seoul mayor against Han Myeong-sook of the DP by a narrow margin of only a 0.6 percentage point.
The GNP failed to gain any seats in the relatively politically neutral Chungcheong region, showing the strong sentiment of the voters against the ruling camp pushing to revise the Sejong city plan that calls for relocating about a dozen government agencies to Yeongi and Gongju in South Chungcheong Province.
Out of the total 228 electoral districts picking lower-level administrative chiefs, the DP scored victories in 92 districts while the GNP secured 82 posts. Independent candidates won 36 posts while the LFP and the minority Democratic Labor Party garnered 17 posts and three posts, respectively.
The DP swept the borough chief elections in Seoul. It secured 21 out of the total 25 posts while the GNP won only four.
By Song Sang-ho (sshluck@heraldm.com)
2010-06-03 18:42
The elections were seen as a mid-term evaluation of the Lee administration’s performance and as crucial since it could remap the political landscape ahead of the 2012 presidential vote.
The GNP secured two seats in the hotly-contested Seoul metropolitan area -- one for Seoul mayor and the other for Gyeonggi governor. It won four other posts in their traditional strongholds of Busan, Daegu, Ulsan and North Gyeongsang Province.
Oh Se-hoon of the GNP won reelection as Seoul mayor against Han Myeong-sook of the DP by a narrow margin of only a 0.6 percentage point.
The GNP failed to gain any seats in the relatively politically neutral Chungcheong region, showing the strong sentiment of the voters against the ruling camp pushing to revise the Sejong city plan that calls for relocating about a dozen government agencies to Yeongi and Gongju in South Chungcheong Province.
Out of the total 228 electoral districts picking lower-level administrative chiefs, the DP scored victories in 92 districts while the GNP secured 82 posts. Independent candidates won 36 posts while the LFP and the minority Democratic Labor Party garnered 17 posts and three posts, respectively.
The DP swept the borough chief elections in Seoul. It secured 21 out of the total 25 posts while the GNP won only four.
By Song Sang-ho (sshluck@heraldm.com)
Social networking services, such as Twitter, may have played an instrumental role in producing a surprise victory for the opposition in the local elections on Wednesday, according to election observers and IT industry analysts.Voter turnout in the election at 54.5 percent was the highest in 15 years, and analysts said that the surge was due to Twitter messages exchanged among young voters who flocked to the polls after being urged to do so by friends and celebrities.Star novelist Lee Oi-soo, who has some 167,000 followers of his Twitter account, tweeted at 11 a.m. on Wednesday saying, “If you give up your right to vote, it is as worthless as trash.” Actress Park Jin-hee and singer Kim Hee-cheol also sent messages and pictures on their Twitter accounts to encourage people to vote.Song In-hyeok, a 34-year-old office worker, sent similar messages to around 30 acquaintances. “As I saw those texts, I felt a sense of responsibility and felt that I should join in, too,” he said.Figures show that voter turnout rose notably as the day progressed and votes for the opposition Democratic Party increased significantly in the afternoon hours.Election experts say this is very reminiscent of the 2002 presidential election when Roh Moo-hyun had a landslide victory over conservative Lee Hoi-chang. Roh’s victory is seen as partly due to Internet support from young liberal voters. “Ruling party candidates gained the most votes in the morning hours, while the opposition party candidates got the majority of the votes in the afternoon hours,” said an official who took part in the exit polls.According to New York-based Internet market researcher eMarketer, two-thirds of all Internet users in U.S. will be using social networking Web sites by 2014, increasing the potential that social media will not only be a venue for networking but also forming public opinion.
Although I couldn;'t vote, but conclution of the off-year election is interesting! Some people said that lame-duck phenomenon will be getting worse from now on.
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