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Time for self-reflection, not self-consolation

Published: 17 Oct. 2024, 19:46

In the four by-elections held on Wednesday to choose the new heads of municipal governments, the governing People Power Party (PPP) and the majority Democratic Party (DP) each kept their home turf. While the PPP won the two by-elections in Geumjeong District, Busan, and Ganghwa County, Gyeonggi, the DP won the other two by-elections for the heads of Yeonggwang and Gokseong Counties, South Jelloa. That’s a draw.

However, both parties must learn painful lessons from the latest elections. First, the PPP must wonder why it lost in another by-election held that day to elect the new superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education. Two candidates from the conservative camp ran for the seat, but the total votes they received were less than the 50.24 percent grabbed by their progressive rival.

Cho Jun-hyuk, one of the two conservative candidates, received 45.93 percent of the votes mostly from the conservatives, but failed to collect votes from the moderates. He could run in the by-election thanks to his persistent battle with the radical teachers’ union, but couldn’t appeal to moderate voters.

The third place taken by a candidate from the Rebuilding Korea Party led by Cho Kuk in the by-election in Yeonggwang County also offers lessons for the former justice minister. Throughout the campaign, the candidate received scorns for “not living in the county” while possessing “an expensive apartment in Seoul and other properties across the country.” The disgraceful defeat by the candidate shows that the minor opposition cannot substitute the DP if it does not nominate a candidate directly linked to the livelihood of local residents. The DP is no different. The party took only 38.96 percent of the votes in the Busan district though it received overwhelming support in South Jeolla, its home ground.

But it is the presidential office who must gravely accept the election results. The PPP’s victories in its home turf owed more to its supporters’ unity against the DP than to their genuine support for the party. PPP leader Han Dong-hoon’s repeated visits to the Busan district to rally support — and his aggressive remarks about the first lady — also contributed to the party’s victory in the district.

It’s a big mistake if the presidential office praises the results of the elections or regards them as signs of the conservatives’ support for the presidential couple. President Yoon Suk Yeol must accept the election results as the public demand for humility from the first couple. We hope the president shows a more positive response to the growing demand for the first lady’s restraint from public activities and for a drastic personnel reshuffle when he meets the PPP leader next week. The answer is already there.