Opposition camp set to field single candidate in Seoul mayoral race

SEOUL, Sept. 24 (Yonhap) -- Park Won-soon, the front-running independent candidate in next month's Seoul mayoral race, said Saturday he accepted rules set by the main opposition Democratic Party to select a unified opposition candidate. The decision by Park, a lawyer-turned-civic activist, is expected to pave the way for all opposition parties to field a unified candidate for the Oct. 26 election in a potential blow to the ruling Grand National Party (GNP) of President Lee Myung-bak. Public support for Park, 55, surged after an iconic software entrepreneur, Ahn Chul-soo, said earlier this month that he won't run for the Seoul mayor and endorsed Park. Park is known for his creative role as a civic activist leader. A founder of the nation's prominent civic activist group, the People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, he currently serves as executive director of a non-governmental charity organization called the Hope Institute. Since Ahn threw his support behind the lawyer, opposition parties and civic groups have been trying to set election rules acceptable to all to field a single opposition candidate for the race. Although Park is not affiliated with any political party, he made himself eligible for a mayoral nomination among opposition parties. "I accept the nomination rules requested by the Democratic Party," Park said after a meeting with Moon Jae-in, a close aide to former President Roh Moo-hyun. "Although the rules may be unfavorable for me because I have no political party or organization, I accept them unconditionally." Under the DP-set nomination rules, a unified candidate should be selected on the basis of several criteria, including public opinion polls and an assessment by panelists after a TV debate. The Seoul mayoral race is seen as a litmus test of voter sentiment ahead of parliamentary and presidential ballots slated for next year. According to a poll by Yonhap News Agency last week, Park is ahead of Rep. Na Kyung-won who leads the ruling GNP's nomination race. An association of 12 polling agencies participated in the Yonhap survey of 3,700 Seoul residents between Tuesday and Thursday through multiple means, including fixed-line phones, mobile phones and online. In all polls, Park's supporting rates ranged between 42.6 percent and 51.5 percent, leading Na by margins of 7 to 18 percentage points.