Educated rookie lawmakers in their early 50s favored

Koreans want lawmakers to be young, highly educated and faithful to their constituencies, according to a survey on preferred candidates conducted by The Dong-A Ilbo and Future Politics, a think tank at Myongji University in Seoul.

Dong-A and the think tank chose 158 preferred candidates who won 10 percentage points more votes than their respective parties in their constituencies in the 2008 general elections.

Candidates favored by the people were found to be in their early 50s, had a master’s or doctoral degrees and expertise in politics, and were first-term lawmakers.

They were 51.8 years old on average, 1.4 years younger than the average age of the 245 lawmakers elected in electoral districts (53.2 years old). Among the preferred candidates, those under age 55 accounted for 63.9 percent, higher than the figure for lawmakers in electoral districts of 56.3 percent.

Among the preferred candidates, 27 or 17.1 percent were elected to parliament for the first time in 2008, far lower than 33.5 percent for all lawmakers in electoral districts. This shows that even capable candidates need help from a party to be elected.

Half of the preferred candidates were elected to parliament in the 2004 general elections for the first time. The corresponding figure for lawmakers in electoral districts was far higher than this with 35.9 percent, indicating that voters prefer first-time lawmakers the most.

The proportions of second- and third-time lawmakers among preferred candidates were similar to those for all lawmakers. Those favored by the people include just two four-time lawmakers.

By previous occupation, politicians took up the largest share of 30.4 percent, higher than the 24.1 percent for all lawmakers. This is because politicians have worked for regions they represent longer than others.

Among preferred candidates, 67.1 percent had master’s or doctoral degrees while 47.3 percent of all lawmakers did so.

The survey was conducted only for candidates for the ruling Grand National Party and the main opposition Democratic Party. Of the 158 "favored candidates," 119 were elected to parliament in 2008.

ditto@donga.com