Published : Oct. 23, 2011 - 20:46
The two frontrunners for Wednesday’s Seoul mayoral race braced themselves over the weekend for the last two days of their election campaign, aiming at attracting a maximum number of swing votes.
According to recent public polls, the number of undecided swing votes greatly rose, especially among the moderate 40s group, reflecting the public’s disapproval of the mudslinging between the candidates.
Na Kyung-won of the ruling Grand National Party focused on getting in direct contact with the voters by visiting all 25 districts of the city, one after another.
“We shall keep the campaigns quiet and decent as to communicate heartily with the people,” said Rep. Kim Chung-kwon, the GNP secretary-general.
The party’s chair Hong Joon-pyo and former leader Park Geun-hye toured various parts of the city on Sunday, making supporting speeches to the public.
The former judge and lawmaker also strove to shake off her image as a politician from the affluent elite and underline her friendly and motherly aspects.
She is also considering an additional set of education and day care policies, as to attract the undecided voters, according to officials.
The liberal bloc’s main candidate Park Won-soon, on the other hand, sought to pull up the general voting rate, especially in the younger age bracket.
“We expect the voting rate to be around 55 percent, in which case we should be in a safety zone,” said Park’s spokesperson.
Na Kyung-won (left photo) and Park Won-soon (right photo) are shifting their campaigning into overdrive with only three days left before the Seoul mayoral by-election. (Kim Myung-sub/The Korea Herald)
The liberal bloc is thus urging supporters through social networking services to participate in Wednesday’s vote, with the help of star Twitter users such as writers Lee Oi-soo and Gong Ji-young, as well as Seoul National University Law School Professor Cho Kuk.
Key members of the main opposition Democratic Party, such as chairman Sohn Hak-kyu and former floor leader Rep. Park Jie-won, stepped out to encourage to vote DP supporters.
Na’s camp, however, predicted turnout would remain under 50 percent, despite the left-wing’s efforts, in which case the race may turn out in favor of the conservative side.
“The voting rates in past by-elections were mostly recorded at below 40 percent,” said Na’s spokesperson.
The few exceptions were 53.9 percent recorded in last year’s local elections, which were conducted on a holiday, and 49.1 percent in the Bundang B constituency this April, according to the National Election Commission.
Park also further stepped up his reproach against the current administration, in an aim to attract the supporters of former liberal Presidents Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun.
“Even after a decade of corrupt ruling, the irresponsible GNP is once again making its claim over Seoul,” said Park.
“The ruling party is now to face the people’s judgment over its faults and return its power to the opposition.”
The conservative camp, however, denied the left-wing candidate’s accusations.
“Under the rule of former Mayors Lee Myung-bak and Oh Se-hoon, Seoul has seen visible improvements, especially in terms of environment and traffic,” said.
“These positive changes may only carry on if a ruling party candidate is elected as next mayor.”
The two candidates also continued to strike heavy blows on each other’s moral qualifications, Park targeting at Na’s asset irregularity charges and Na digging into Park’s family registration and academic record forgery allegations.
Though public poll results may not be announced during the last six days of election campaigns, the gap between Park and Na is known to be minimal, within the margin of error, predicting a close contest on Wednesday.
By Bae Hyun-jung (
tellme@heraldcorp.com)