ID :
209282
Sun, 09/25/2011 - 13:53
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/209282
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DP fields Park Young-sun to run for Seoul mayor
SEOUL (Yonhap) - The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) picked Rep. Park Young-sun on Sunday to run for Seoul mayor in the October by-election on the party ticket.
In a party convention held in Seoul's Olympic Gymnastics Hall, Park, a reporter-turned-politician, won 38.3 percent of support, beating Rep. Chun Jeong-bae with 28.7 percent.
Rep. Choo Mi-ae and Rep. Shini Geh-ryeun garnered 21.8 percent and 11.2 percent, respectively.
The party contest was based on a 50-50 combination of votes from party members and the outcome of a two-day telephone survey, according to party officials.
As leaders of opposition parties have agreed to field a unified candidate from the liberal bloc, the 51-year-old Park has to compete against two other liberal candidates from outside the party -- Park Won-soon, an independent candidate and current front-runner, and Choi Gyu-yeop of the minor progressive Democratic Labor Party -- in a preliminary poll slated for Oct. 3.
Her main rival will be Park Won-soon, a lawyer-turned-activist, who has been leading early polls. He is the founder of a prominent civic activist group, the People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy.
The unified opposition candidate will run against the ruling Grand National Party (GNP)'s front-runner, Na Kyung-won, in the Oct. 26 by-election, which is seen as a litmus test of voter sentiment ahead of next year's major polls.
The Seoul mayor's seat has been vacant since late August after conservative Oh Se-hoon quit shortly after failing to block an opposition-led free school lunch program in the city's first-ever referendum.
In a party convention held in Seoul's Olympic Gymnastics Hall, Park, a reporter-turned-politician, won 38.3 percent of support, beating Rep. Chun Jeong-bae with 28.7 percent.
Rep. Choo Mi-ae and Rep. Shini Geh-ryeun garnered 21.8 percent and 11.2 percent, respectively.
The party contest was based on a 50-50 combination of votes from party members and the outcome of a two-day telephone survey, according to party officials.
As leaders of opposition parties have agreed to field a unified candidate from the liberal bloc, the 51-year-old Park has to compete against two other liberal candidates from outside the party -- Park Won-soon, an independent candidate and current front-runner, and Choi Gyu-yeop of the minor progressive Democratic Labor Party -- in a preliminary poll slated for Oct. 3.
Her main rival will be Park Won-soon, a lawyer-turned-activist, who has been leading early polls. He is the founder of a prominent civic activist group, the People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy.
The unified opposition candidate will run against the ruling Grand National Party (GNP)'s front-runner, Na Kyung-won, in the Oct. 26 by-election, which is seen as a litmus test of voter sentiment ahead of next year's major polls.
The Seoul mayor's seat has been vacant since late August after conservative Oh Se-hoon quit shortly after failing to block an opposition-led free school lunch program in the city's first-ever referendum.
