South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun's supporters in the Uri Party took majority of the directly elected seats in the National Assembly, with 97 percent of the vote counted, after a backlash by voters against the opposition's impeachment of Roh. Uri had 129 of 243 seats, and the Grand National Party had 100, the National Election Commission said. The vote for 56 seats in a separate proportional vote based on party preference is 25 percent counted. A Uri victory may help Roh in his bid to be exonerated in court of impeachment charges, according to analysts including Baik Hak Soon. ``It will be hard for the court to ignore the results of this election since it reflects heavily on the impeachment,'' said Baik, a researcher at Sejong Research Institute. ``The judges may be under less pressure.''
| Court opinions decided on the basis of popularity. Is it just me, or is there something wrong with what he said? |
Control of the legislature would expand Roh's mandate in international and domestic affairs. The president sent troops to Iraq, backed the U.S. war on terrorism and pushed for multilateral talks to dismantle North Korea's nuclear arsenal.
| And played kissy-face with Kimmie. |
Still, Roh and his Uri Party supporters may have to fight a perception by some that they lack expertise in government administration. Uri has ``young, goofy people,'' said Yuktai Chan, who helps manage about $3 billion in Asia outside Japan for Threadneedle Asset Management in London. ``They are pro-reform, anti- corruption and pro-North Korea. They seem to be much in vogue at the moment. The Grand National Party is very old and conservative. They are the people associated with corruption and freedom.''
``The Uri Party would never have won so many seats had it not been for the impeachment,'' said Lee Nae Young, a political science professor at Korea University in Seoul. ``The election was dominated by public disapproval of the vote to oust Roh.'' In its election win, Uri overcame public anger against its chairman, Chung Dong Young, who said elderly voters shouldn't bother to cast ballots. Chung apologized and resigned this week as a legislative candidate. The election result swings the legislature to the left. The Democratic Labor Party, a union-activist party, will take seats in the National Assembly for the first time, overtaking the Millennium Democrats as the third biggest party. Democratic Labor won 11 seats. ``The results show that the public is thirsting for political reform,'' said Kwon Young Ghil, party leader. ``We plan to focus on economic growth for ordinary people.'' The Millennium Democratic Party slipped to fourth with nine seats. Roh and his loyalists broke with the party last September, forming the Uri Party. Roh won the presidency in December 2002 running as a Millennium Democrat, the party created by his predecessor Kim Dae Jung. Turnout among the nation's 35.6 million was almost 60 percent, according to preliminary figures from the National Election Commission. That's up from a record low 57 percent in the 2000 poll. |