Uri Takes Another Election Beating

It lost all four contests in yesterday’s bi-election. Three seats went to the GNP; one to a Democratic Party candidate who spearheaded his party’s effort to impeach Roh:

The ruling Uri Party suffered another crushing defeat in Wednesday’s parliamentary by-elections. No Uri Party candidates won in the four constituencies of Seongbuk-eul and Songpa-gap, both in Seoul, Sosa in Gyeonggi Province and Masan-gap in South Gyeongsang Province. That means the ruling party has secured no seat in parliamentary by-elections since 2005.

So much for that backlash. Turnout was at an all-time low, which is the natural consequence of the parties not standing for anything particularly compelling or uplifting.

Among the Uri candidates defeated was former Roh mouthpiece Kim Man Soo.