Final polls ahead of local elections show ruling party in commanding lead
- 6 years ago
We're just six days away from the June 13th local elections in South Korea.
Rival parties are attempting to woo as many voters as possible,... but the last poll released ahead of D-day shows the ruling party in a commanding lead.
Kim Min-ji reports.
In the final opinion polls allowed to be released ahead of the local elections,... the ruling Democratic Party of Korea appears on track to sweep to victory.
Out of 17 metropolitan cities or provinces,... the ruling party is in the lead in 14 regions,... including Seoul, and even traditional conservative strongholds such as Ulsan and Busan.
It's a big setback for the main opposition Liberty Korea Party,... which initially aimed to win at least six seats,... but only is in the lead in Gyeongsangbuk-do Province,... while the southeastern city of Daegu falls within the margin of error. Jeju is led by an independent.
With opinion polls banned from being released from Thursday,... these are the final statistics voters will be able to see before election day.
But with less than a week left,... it's unclear whether there will be a big enough issue to turn the tables.
Support for the ruling party mainly comes on the back of the Moon Jae-in administration's high approval rating buoyed by the positive developments with North Korea.
"The inter-Korean summit and the North Korea-U.S. summit have had a big impact on the local elections. And as we can see, the positive developments have been reflected in the polls. On top of that, the opposition bloc hasn't been able to bring up an issue to outweigh that attention. What's different in this election is that voters want to show their support for the government,... rather than necessarily choosing the best candidate."
Initially, it was believed the Metoo Movement or the opinion rigging scandal involving ruling party members could erode their approval rating.
And now with prospects gone for a possible merging of candidates,... the remaining variables are voter turnout and swing voters.
A glint of hope for the main opposition is the bloc of voters referred to as "shy conservatives" -- those that don't tell pollsters that they support the main opposition Liberty Korea Party.
"There are bound to be people like this,... as we saw in the presidential election last year. But the problem for the main opposition party is that it has positioned itself badly. They are supposed to be an alternative to the ruling party. But they haven't really been able to cut their ties to the impeachment of a former president,... and all they're doing is criticizing the government. If they'd supported the positive results,... while criticizing where the government has come up short,... they'd stand a much better chance."
Some experts say should the outcome of the local elections fall in line with the last opinion poll,... especially in conservative-held regions,... the political dynamics in the nation could see a seismic shift.
"Although it's slightly in the lea
Rival parties are attempting to woo as many voters as possible,... but the last poll released ahead of D-day shows the ruling party in a commanding lead.
Kim Min-ji reports.
In the final opinion polls allowed to be released ahead of the local elections,... the ruling Democratic Party of Korea appears on track to sweep to victory.
Out of 17 metropolitan cities or provinces,... the ruling party is in the lead in 14 regions,... including Seoul, and even traditional conservative strongholds such as Ulsan and Busan.
It's a big setback for the main opposition Liberty Korea Party,... which initially aimed to win at least six seats,... but only is in the lead in Gyeongsangbuk-do Province,... while the southeastern city of Daegu falls within the margin of error. Jeju is led by an independent.
With opinion polls banned from being released from Thursday,... these are the final statistics voters will be able to see before election day.
But with less than a week left,... it's unclear whether there will be a big enough issue to turn the tables.
Support for the ruling party mainly comes on the back of the Moon Jae-in administration's high approval rating buoyed by the positive developments with North Korea.
"The inter-Korean summit and the North Korea-U.S. summit have had a big impact on the local elections. And as we can see, the positive developments have been reflected in the polls. On top of that, the opposition bloc hasn't been able to bring up an issue to outweigh that attention. What's different in this election is that voters want to show their support for the government,... rather than necessarily choosing the best candidate."
Initially, it was believed the Metoo Movement or the opinion rigging scandal involving ruling party members could erode their approval rating.
And now with prospects gone for a possible merging of candidates,... the remaining variables are voter turnout and swing voters.
A glint of hope for the main opposition is the bloc of voters referred to as "shy conservatives" -- those that don't tell pollsters that they support the main opposition Liberty Korea Party.
"There are bound to be people like this,... as we saw in the presidential election last year. But the problem for the main opposition party is that it has positioned itself badly. They are supposed to be an alternative to the ruling party. But they haven't really been able to cut their ties to the impeachment of a former president,... and all they're doing is criticizing the government. If they'd supported the positive results,... while criticizing where the government has come up short,... they'd stand a much better chance."
Some experts say should the outcome of the local elections fall in line with the last opinion poll,... especially in conservative-held regions,... the political dynamics in the nation could see a seismic shift.
"Although it's slightly in the lea