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PPP presidential candidates poll abysmally as crisis grips party after Yoon's impeachment

Published: 20 Dec. 2024, 19:17

LIM JEONG-WON
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Former People Power Party (PPP) leader Han Dong-hoon moves away from the podium after announcing his resignation from the party leadership during a press conference held at the National Assembly on Dec. 16. [YONHAP]

No potential presidential candidates from the conservative People Power Party (PPP) has surpassed 5 percent in the polls in the wake of President Yoon Suk Yeol’s upcoming impeachment trial, new survey data showed Friday.

Even when all the PPP’s approval ratings are combined, the total is less than half that of Democratic Party (DP) leader Lee Jae-myung, Gallup Korea’s poll on potential presidential candidates released on Friday showed. The PPP’s candidates were hit by the shock waves of the Dec. 3 martial law declaration and the following impeachment motion passed against Yoon, analysis indicates.

“The situation wasn’t like this even during the impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye,” a PPP official told the JoongAng Ilbo, an affiliate of the Korea JoongAng Daily. “If an early presidential election is held in this current climate, we will suffer a crushing defeat.”

According to the poll conducted by Gallup Korea through phone interviews of more than 1,000 respondents between Tuesday and Thursday, DP leader Lee ranked first with a 37 percent approval rating. Other opposition candidates include former leader of the Rebuilding Korea Party Cho Kuk, who is now serving a two-year prison sentence, and Rep. Lee Jun-seok of the Reform Party at 2 percent, and National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik at one percent.

On the other hand, the leading candidates among the conservative bloc were former PPP leader Han Dong-hoon and Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo, both at only 5 percent. Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, former PPP Rep. Yoo Seung-min and Labor Minister Kim Moon-soo received 2 percent each, while Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo received 1 percent.

The combined approval rating of all PPP candidates was 17 percent, less than half that of DP leader Lee. Detailed indicators also pointed to the fall of the PPP’s candidates, with Lee leading in all regions and age cohorts.

In particular, in the Daegu and North Gyeongsang regions, a conservative stronghold traditionally called “TK” in Korean politics, Lee’s approval rating was 19 percent, while the PPP candidates struggled with Han grabbing only 9 percent and Hong 8 percent, with Oh behind at 3 percent. The same was true for those in their 70s or older, who have long leaned strongly conservative. Among this age group, Lee’s approval rating was 21 percent, with Han at 10 percent and Hong, Kim and Oh receiving only 2 percent.

“We were prepared for the martial law incident’s impact to boomerang on us, but we didn’t expect even strong conservatives to turn their backs so coldly,” said another PPP official.

Even before the botched martial law declaration by Yoon, Lee was a strong candidate for the next presidential election, but the conservative PPP had a rival in former party leader Han. In a separate, earlier Gallup Korea poll conducted during the last week of July this year, early in Han’s term as PPP leader, Lee’s approval rating was 22 percent while Han’s was similar at 19 percent.

However, starting with the martial law crisis, Lee’s approval rating skyrocketed while Han’s plummeted.

“The first cause of this change was, of course, Yoon’s absurd declaration of martial law, which drove not only him but also the entire PPP into a swamp,” said Lee Jun-Han, a professor of political science at Incheon National University. “However, there was also a significant loss of supporters who felt tired of the internal conflict within the party surrounding the impeachment process that has taken place since then.”

The PPP’s current crisis is considered more serious than during the impeachment of Park eight years ago when the party had an alternative in former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

In early 2017, after the impeachment of Park was passed in the National Assembly in January, then-presidential candidate Moon Jae-in of the DP had a 31 percent approval rating, but Ban also had 20 percent, placing the conservative camp at a relatively mild disadvantage.

As the PPP struggles to keep up in the current political climate, some party officials already say a defeat is inevitable, and that the best that can be hoped for is a respectable loss.

“It’s openly said that even if the conservative presidential candidate gets only 30 percent of so of the vote in an early presidential election, it would be a good effort,” a PPP official said. “The weakness of DP leader Lee, who is caught up in legal problems, is clear, but the problem is that there are no prominent opponents who can exploit this for us.”

Amidst all this, the PPP’s hesitation over appointing an emergency response committee chair seems to be aggravating the sense of crisis.

Candidates for the emergency response committee chair will probably emerge early next week after party members are canvassed, but a senior party member will likely assume the position.

“Whether painful reform is even possible is debatable, but seeing how senior members who are largely responsible for the current situation will likely become the emergency response committee chair clearly demonstrates the regression of conservative politics,” said Park Sung-min, head of political consulting firm Min.

BY SOHN GUK-HEE, LIM JEONG-WON [[email protected]]