AMN
South Korea, main opposition party has won yesterday’s general election, ending the the conservative ruling party’s 16-year parliamentary majority.
The vote dealt a blow to President Park Geun-Hye and raised hopes for an opposition victory in the 2017 presidential election. With almost all ballots counted, Park’s Saenuri Party won 122 seats in the 300-member National Assembly, while the main opposition Minjoo Party won 123.
The splinter opposition People’s Party bagged 38 spots, and another six seats went to a small opposition party, the Justice Party. It was for the first time since 1999 that the conservative party has lost control of parliament, with the three opposition parties garnering a combined 167 seats, well over the majority. Voter turnout was 58 per cent, up 3.8 percentage points from the 2012
election, and final official results is expected today.
Capitalizing on its triumph over the ruling party and government for “botched economic policies,” the Minjoo Party’s leader Kim Jong-in said the most substantial meaning of Wednesday’s elections was the fact that the Saenuri Party failed to retain its legislative majority.
“There are no political forces that can defeat the people. We once again realize the fearful authority of the voters’ minds,” he said during a press conference after his party won 123 seats in the 300-member National Assembly, one more seat than the ruling party.
“The voters delivered their stern judgment on the botched economic policies of the Park Geun-hye government and the Saenuri Party, he added, urging the ruling camp to “realize” that the main cause of their defeat was a failure to improve the livelihoods of regular citizens.
Photo: Minjoo Party leader Kim Jong-in speaks during a press conference at the National Assembly on April 14, 2016. (Couresy Yonhap)
