Corruption-tainted primaries

The main opposition Democratic United Party has confirmed a list of candidates who allegedly provided gifts or favors to party leaders in the primaries and committed illegal electioneering. The party has delayed candidate selection for next month`s general elections because prosecutors and police are investigating the case. With the schedule getting tight, however, troubled figures on the list -- Lee Gang-rae, Kim Young-rok, Choi Gyu-seong, Oh Se-ho and Song Young-chul -– were named as candidates. The party seems to have made a slap-dash decision. Aside from them, many other candidates are suspected of being dirty in the primaries. Park Jie-won, a member of the party’s supreme council, said, “(Due illegal electioneering,) 50 seats will be submitted to the prosecutor-general.” Park Ju-sun left the party and will run as an independent after a man involved in his campaign killed himself. If the Democratic United Party made noise in the primaries held in the Jeolla provinces, the ruling Saenuri Party did the same in the Gyeongsang provinces. The Jeolla region is the stronghold of the opposition party while the Gyeongsang provinces are that of Saenuri. Ruling party candidate Jang Yoon-seok was suspected of including party members in the electoral college. Candidates Lee Gun-hyun and Joo Ho-young allegedly encouraged voters not to talk about their status or age in an opinion poll. Candidate Hong Joon-pyo was cited by the National Election Commission for receiving illegal political sponsorship. Saenuri also canceled the nomination of a few highly controversial candidates but many others have troublesome backgrounds and legal problems.

Lee Jung-hee, co-chairman of the minor opposition United Liberal Party, has refused to step down and will run in the elections despite a scandal over manipulating public opinion. Suspicions of corruption were raised from candidates such as Shim Sang-jeong, No Hoi-chan and Chun Ho-sun in the primary with Democratic United Party candidates. The liberal party granted a number of proportional representation candidacies to former Korean Teachers & Education Workers’ Union leader Jeong Jin-hu, who allegedly tried to minimize the impact of sexual violence. The party recommended candidate Yoon Won-seok, who committed sexual harassment, but he voluntarily resigned. United Liberal Party Co-chairman Rhyu Si-min said, “Liberalness doesn`t guarantee integrity.” He has always talked about integrity but now where is it?

Parties have completed their lists of candidates for proportional representation and district seats, and candidate registration ends today. The lists are of matches for the April 11 general elections. Many of the names, however, are of numerous potentially “disqualified” players whose election is highly likely to be canceled or who are likely to lose their seats even if elected. This is the side effect of a new bottom-up primary plan intended to increase public participation in line with election reform. Is this better than a top-down primary? If parties failed to screen disqualified candidates due to lack of will, voters should complete the task.