Rival parties will kick off their official campaigns next week for April’s parliamentary race that will determine the political landscape of the country for the next four years, election organizers said Sunday.
A 13-day official campaigning period will begin next Thursday as the parties have set their own goals for the April 13 polls that are to elect a total of 300 lawmakers.
The ruling Saenuri Party has vowed to claim a clear-cut victory by reclaiming more than a majority in the National Assembly, where it currently holds 146 out of 292 seats.
Earlier, the party’s chief, Kim Moo-sung, vowed that the Saenuri will win 180 of the total 300 seats up for grabs to scrap the controversial National Assembly Advancement Law.
The bill grants lawmakers the right to challenge executive enactments, such as the government’s enforcement ordinance, and allows more assembly power in reviewing and modifying government legislation.
Cho Dong-won, an official handling the party’s public relations, however, said Kim’s goal is a pipe dream.
“(The goal of 180 seats) is not viable, and the party does not even expect to achieve it,” he said.
The main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea, meanwhile, has called for judgment of the incumbent administration’s handling of the economy, saying the government and Saenuri failed to improve people’s livelihoods.
The party, which currently holds 107 seats, aims to win about 130 seats.
Kim Chong-in, the party’s interim chief, joined the President Park Geun-hye election camp during the 2012 presidential elections and crafted her “economic democratization” pledge.
Since taking the chairman post, he has argued that the chaebol-led growth engine should be scrapped and the government should promote more growth from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to revitalize Asia’s fourth-largest economy.
“The people desperately feel the current problems, such as the polarization of the wealth and the shortage of jobs,” said Lee Yong-seob, a party official in charge of the election policies.
Kim also visited the party’s hometurf, the southwestern city of Gwangju, Sunday before officially kicking off the party’s campaign.
The splinter People’s Party also aims to grab 20 seats, which would allow it to form a parliamentary negotiation bloc.
The party claimed the people are fed up with the current two major rival parties, and “new politics” will be achieved through new faces.
A total of 944 candidates — 844 men and 100 women — have registered during a two-day period with the country’s watchdog. The competition rate is 3.7 to 1, compared with 4.84 to 1 in the 2004 parliamentary elections.
It also noted 158 candidates are vying for the remaining 47 seats, which will be allocated to political parties according to the numbers of votes that the parties receive overall under proportional representation. (Yonhap)
