(News Focus) Election victory to boost Lee`s policy initiatives

By Yoo Cheong-mo
SEOUL, July 29 (Yonhap) -- The final score between the ruling Grand National
Party (GNP) and the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) in Wednesday's
parliamentary by-elections was 5 to 3.
On the surface, the outcome could be seen as a narrow victory by the conservative
ruling party.
In reality, however, the GNP has won an overwhelming victory, as President Lee
Myung-bak's closest confidants swept two crucial races in Seoul and the central
province of North Chungcheong, political observers and lawmakers say.
At the start of the campaign, the GNP, reeling from a humiliating defeat in last
month's local elections, had aimed to secure two of the eight legislative seats
up for grabs in the by-elections.
Only one of the eight contested seats had originally belonged to the ruling
party, whereas the DP had previously claimed as many as five. Against such a
backdrop, the liberal main opposition party had set a goal of winning at least
five races.
The ruling party's surprise victory is expected to give a strong boost to
President Lee's key state polices, including his controversial bids to refurbish
the nation's four major river basins, fight corruption, overhaul the local
administrative system and even revise the Constitution, the observers and
lawmakers predict. The 22-trillion-won (US$18.2 billion) four river project has
been vehemently opposed by opposition parties, many religious leaders and
environmental activists, who are all concerned about a possible ecological
disaster.
In addition, the president's efforts to improve the livelihoods of working-class
people and promote mutual growth of large and small companies, as well as his
hard-line approach towards inter-Korean issues, are expected to gain further
momentum, they say.
"Voters seem to have pursued a balance of power. They overwhelmingly supported
the opposition parties in the local elections in June. This time, however, they
chose to back the ruling party," said a GNP lawmaker.
Following the GNP's crushing defeat in the June 2 gubernatorial and mayoral
elections, Lee has been forced to give up his bid to scrap the preceding
government's plan to move over half of government ministries to Sejong, a new
town under construction south of Seoul.
Moreover, the embattled president has been under pressure to drastically revamp
his Cabinet and replace Prime Minister Chung Un-chan, an avid supporter of the
revised Sejong project.
"The ruling camp has been on the defensive since its defeat in the local
elections. But the election result appears to reflect the people's demand for
administrative stability," said Lee Jae-oh, one of the president's most trusted
aides, who won the race in Seoul's Eunpyeong B district.
"The victory should also be regarded as an expression of popular encouragement
for the president."
Lee Jae-oh's return to the GNP is also expected to greatly affect the ruling
party's relations with the presidential office, Cheong Wa Dae, as he will help
the president gain influence on the party.
The 65-year-old former three-term lawmaker, who served as chief of Lee
Myung-bak's presidential campaign in 2007, had left politics after suffering a
humiliating defeat to Moon Kook-hyun, then leader of the minor opposition
Creative Korea Party, in the northern Seoul district in the 2008 general
elections. The Eunpyeong B district in northwestern Seoul has been vacant since
Moon was stripped of his seat last year after being convicted in a bribery
scandal.
With the addition of five seats, the GNP will now claim 172 in the 299-seat
National Assembly, compared with the DP's 87. The GNP's planned merger with a
minority conservative party will soon increase the ruling party's parliamentary
seats to 180.
GNP candidates' victories in two Chungcheong districts, which surround Sejong
City, were also very meaningful to the president, as voters in the central
provinces were previously known to be unhappy with Lee's unsuccessful push to
kill the Sejong administrative city project.
President Lee will carry out a moderate shakeup of his Cabinet after returning
from his summer holiday in early August, the political watchers forecast.
Cheong Wa Dae reacted calmly to the ruling party's victory, vowing to push ahead
with the president's current economic and national security policies.
Presidential aides also said that voters have positively evaluated President
Lee's efforts to promote the livelihoods of the working-class people, as well as
mutual growth of large and small businesses.
"The people harshly scolded us in last month's local elections. This time,
however, they extended full support to our changing administrative styles," said
a ranking official at Cheong Wa Dae.
"We'll humbly accept the will of the people and enforce policies more faithfully.
In addition, we will more sincerely persuade the people about disputed national
policy tasks, such as the project to refurbish the nation's four major rivers,"
said the official.
Ahn Sang-soo, chairman of the GNP, said his party will try to understand in a
more humble way what the people really want.
"We're very grateful to the voters. We'll work harder from now on," said Ahn.
"The voters have sent a message urging the Lee administration and the ruling
party to work harder to create jobs and serve the people."
DP Chairman Chung Sye-kyun said his party will humbly accept the outcome of the
by-elections. "The election results are the popular evaluation of our party.
We'll humbly accept the results and follow the will of the people," he said.
ycm@yna.co.kr
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