A bad primary

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A bad primary

The Grand National Party’s primary is to be held tomorrow. The party’s approval rating is more than 50 percent, two or three times higher than the ruling party. It seems likely that a Grand National presidential hopeful will be elected president. So tomorrow’s primary has grave importance. The electoral college of 230,000 people will take a decisive step in this presidential election.
The people of the electoral college must be prudent and discreet. The Roh Moo-hyun administration’s approval rating stands at around 10 percent. This figure reflects the past four and a half years. The members of the electoral college must learn a lesson from this period before going to the voting place.
The primary criterion is whether a presidential hopeful has leadership. They need to choose a leader who respects Korea’s history, who has moral values and a good personality so he is respected by the people. A person with a vision for the country who is capable of improving the economy and education must be chosen. The members of the electoral college must not vote for a person because he or she offers a nice package or because a great number of people have backed them. One presidential hopeful demands the other withdraw because of suspicions, even though there is no evidence to back them. The other claims to be innocent while delaying what he must do to clear himself of suspicion. The members of the electoral college must not listen to any of these baseless claims.
The past 30 days have been pure chaos. This party primary is the GNP’s fourth. An evaluation of the presidential hopefuls was necessary. But the methods were brutal and there was no integrity. Vulgar words have been used. They called each other real estate speculators or swindlers. One criticized the other for not having given birth and one said that the other would certainly lose in the presidential election.
Due to this fight subjects like the economy, education, North Korea and real estate have not been discussed. The candidates have said little about people’s livelihoods or the economy. The presidential aspirants had a discussion about one hopeful’s plan to build a waterway across the country and that was it. The primary campaign only showed that the GNP’s leadership is weak. The presidential hopefuls blindly believe that once one wins the primary one becomes the president. Their aggressive campaigns have wronged the people. The only way for them to be forgiven is for them to accept the result of the primary and reconcile.
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