Ahn Cheol-soo the real winner in South Korea's election

 

The newly established People's Party led by Ahn Cheol-soo is the election's biggest winner, with Ahn firmly establishing himself as a candidate for the presidential elections. Exactly what Ahn stands for politically is unclear; his success can largely be attributed to protest votes and his image as a successful entrepreneur and political outsider.

 

In general terms, the opposition's victory should not be confused with a political shift to the left. Policy platforms and political debate were almost entirely absent from the electoral campaign, which was dominated by power struggles among influential individuals and their personal networks. While voters may have shifted to the left, the political spectrum has arguably moved to the right. The two opposition leaders Kim Chong-in (Minjoo) and Ahn Cheol-soo (Googmin) have gone to great lengths to distance themselves from the traditional image of the opposition party as being rooted in the student and labor movement, promising to move their party to the "political center."

 

What does the outcome of the election mean for the remaining 22 months of the Park administration? In Korea's presidential democracy, the president has wide-ranging constitutional powers, but President Park, who is constitutionally barred from running for a second term, needs the parliament in order to pass bills, and is therefore most likely to become a lame duck president. The prospects of implementing her pro-business agenda to liberalize labor markets and pass tougher security laws now appear slim. Furthermore, she is weakened within her party as some of her key allies failed to win parliamentary seats.

 

An interesting question is how the Saenuri Party will react to the defeat. The party suffered heavy losses both in the capital region of Seoul, where almost half of all Koreans live, and in other urban areas, including its former regional strongholds of Daegu and Busan in the southeast. Accordingly, the Saenuri Party is in danger of becoming a party of the past, supported by rural voters and the older generation.

http://thediplomat.com/2016/04/why-south-koreans-voted-for-change/