No Easy Way Out of Roh’s Shadow for the Pan-Ruling Party

The presidential hopefuls from the so-called pan-ruling party circle are currently trying to find a way out from the shadow of Roh’s misgovernment.

With the candidate registration date only 15 days away, the United New Democratic Party presidential candidate Chung Dong-young’s approval ratings remain at around 10%, ranking third.

The pan-ruling camp candidates, Lee In-je of the Democratic Party, Mun Guk-hyeon of the Creative Korean Party, and Chung Dong-young are seeking a joint candidacy. Yet their combined approval ratings are only half of Grand National Party candidate Lee Myung-bak’s. Lee Myung-bak currently leads with around a 40% approval rating.

It is unprecedented that the approval ratings of a ruling party candidate whose party constitutes the majority in the National Assembly are so low. The pan-ruling camp and some observers attribute the pan-ruling camp candidates’ poor performance to the misgovernment of President Roh. Korean voters are cool –headedly making a judgment on the current government.

A key UNDP official said on November 9, “Chung has been trying to solidify the ruling party’s support base by embracing progressive values, yet he cannot escape from the shadow of Roh.”

In particular, disregard of public opinion, President Roh’s pushing ahead with his new press control policy under the name of ‘Advanced Media Support System is considered to have had a negative impact on the ruling party’s presidential campaign.

During a Gwanhun Club discussion on November 7, Chung criticized the government’s decision to close down all government office pressrooms. In an immediate response, Cheong Wa Dae argued,“Chung does not understand the media policy adequately,” yet this only made ruling party supporters confused.

Nevertheless, the candidates in the pan-ruling camp are conscious of the clout of the incumbent president in the process of the unification of the pan-ruling party candidacy and are hesitating to criticize the government’s failures. Yet in this way, they have invited their predicament.

It is reasonable that the candidates cannot ignore Roh’s ‘veto.’ Those whom Roh criticized as not qualified for president, namely former Prim Minister Goh Geon, former president of Seoul National University Chung Un-chan, and former governor of Gyeonggi Province Sohn Hak-gyu, gave up their presidential candidacy aspirations or did not succeed in the primary.

Yet the pan-ruling party candidates’ biggest concern is that good relations with the president have not made any difference in their stagnant approval ratings.

A political scientist assessed, “The pan-ruling camp candidates are so concerned about their relationship with Roh that they are unable to present their own ideas to voters. If they continue down this path, they will not be able to find a way out of the current situation.”

swpark@donga.com