From
Send to

Minor opposition leader drops nomination under pressure over survey-rigging scandal

March 23, 2012 - 14:23 By

Minor opposition leader drops nomination under pressure over survey-rigging scandal

The leader of the minor opposition Unified Progressive Party gave up her nomination for next month's parliamentary elections Friday, buckling under pressure to step down following revelations her aides attempted to tamper with a crucial voter survey.

Rep. Lee Jung-hee was selected as a single opposition candidate in Seoul's Gwanak district after defeating her rival from the main opposition Democratic United Party in the telephone survey. She was under public pressure to drop the nomination, however, after two of her aides were found to have attempted to rig the survey.

"Lee made this decision after taking various situations into consideration," a party official said without elaborating. She reportedly held in-depth discussions Thursday night with Moon Jae-in, a senior main opposition party official considered a potential presidential candidate.

The telephone survey was held as part of an alliance agreement between the two opposition parties to field unified candidates in key districts in the April 11 polls in order to avoid splitting opposition votes against candidates from the ruling Saenuri Party.

Lee, a lawyer-turned-lawmaker who has built an image as a "clean" politician, immediately apologized over the revelations, but previously refused to give up the nomination, claiming she had no knowledge of the rigging while placing all blame on the aides.

She previously demanded that a new survey be held to determine a candidate.

Her refusal to give up the nomination sparked strong protests not only from her rival in the Gwanak district, but also from candidates from other districts where the two parties agreed to field single candidates, raising concerns the alliance could ultimately fall apart.

The two campaign aides were found to have sent mobile phone text messages asking party members to lie about their ages if they received automated survey calls made randomly on Saturday and Sunday to ask voters in the constituency which hopeful they favor.

The survey was designed to select the winner by putting together responses from different age groups of voters, and Lee's aides attempted to boost her ratings among younger age groups, apparently on tips that enough responses from higher-aged groups had already been collected. (Yonhap News)

 

 

 

 

<한글 기사>

이정희, 관악을 총선 후보 사퇴

통합진보당 이정희 대표는 23일 4ㆍ11 총선의 서울 관악을 야권 단일후보에서 사퇴하기로 했다.

당 관계자는 이날 연합뉴스와의 통화에서 "최근 이 대표가 여러 가지 상황을 고 려해 이같이 결정했다"고 밝혔다.

이 대표가 전격 후보에서 사퇴함에 따라 파국으로 치닫던 야권 총선 연대가  정 상화될지 주목된다.

이 대표 측은 지난 17∼18일 실시한 민주통합당 김희철 후보와의 야권 단일후보 경선 여론조사에서 지지자에게 "나이를 속여 응답하라"고 문자를 보내 여론조사를 조작했다는 의혹을 받고 있다.

이 대표는 전날 민주당 문재인 상임고문과 전격 심야회동에 나서 후보직 사퇴 등에 대해 심도있는 논의를 한 것으로 알려졌다.