Poll Points to Possible GNP Takeover in May ‘06 Elections

From the Korea Times:

Almost five in 10 people say they will vote for candidates from the largest opposition Grand National Party (GNP) in the local elections in May, according to the latest opinion poll.

Roh Moo-hyun is expected to recognize by midyear that he will become increasingly powerless, political experts said.

In the survey of 1,010 adults conducted Dec. 27-28, 46.3 percent of the respondents said they will give support to GNP candidates in the May 31 local elections, followed by 20.9 percent for the ruling Uri Party and 8.1 percent for the pro-union Democratic Labor Party.

The article has a must-see graphic of the various parties’ ratings.

“It’s actually a midterm evaluation of the government,” Yoon Eun-key, political affairs commentator in Seoul, said. “If the Uri Party fails to obtain good results, a lame duck government will come much earlier. In addition, presidential hopefuls, like Lee Myung-bak, will increasingly raise their voices against the government’s politics.”

Park Geun Hye seems to have peaked for now.

For the first time in The Korea Times poll track, Seoul City Mayor Lee Myung-bak [link to OFK bio of Lee], a GNP member, received the strongest approval among the presidential aspirants for 2007.

If the current trend remains unchanged, the political landscape will not undergo a big transformation in May and will subsequently affect the presidential race in 2007, Yoon said.

The last sentence is self-disclaiming. Something will change. Roh will make several unbalanced statements, Chung Dong-Young (who didn’t fare too well, either) will continue to offer evidence that he’s out of his intellectual depth, or the GNP will try to match its attempt to impeach Roh and set a new standard for shooting itself in the foot.