Political parties have no qualms about making untenable pledges ahead of the April 11 general elections if they are believed to endear them to the electorate. A case in point is a promise to build a new airport in the southeast, which is shaping up to be one of the fiercest battle grounds.
The proposal to build a new airport in the area, originally a campaign promise of President Lee Myung-bak, was scrapped when a feasibility study concluded last year that it would incur heavy losses if its construction was completed as planned. Expansion of Gimhae airport, which is operating at near full capacity, was proposed as a profitable alternative.
Nonetheless, both the ruling Saenuri Party and the main opposition Democratic United Party are paying little attention to the proposal to expand Gimhae airport. Instead, they are moving to include the 10 trillion won project of building a new airport among their campaign promises.
Its feasibility aside, where to locate the new airport is an issue pitting one potentially hosting region against another. The rival parties are attempting to exploit the regional sentiments to their advantage.
The opposition party promises to build an airport in an island connected to Busan by bridge ― a ploy to help it make inroads into the metropolis, a traditional stronghold for the ruling party. It promises to make Busan a hub of land, air and maritime logistics by building an airport in the island.
On the other hand, the ruling party maintains what is seen to be strategic ambiguity when it promises a new airport but refuses to pinpoint a location. It does not want to alienate either the electorate in Busan or those in Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province, who demand a new airport be built near their region.
Instead of allowing themselves to be drawn into a worthless debate on airport construction, the rival parties should look squarely at reality ― 11 of the 14 regional airports are losing money heavily each year. No political party in its right mind would propose to launch a big-ticket airport project at a time when many regional airports need to be closed.
Moreover, it is a bad election strategy to fan regional antipathy. The parties are advised to stop deluding the electorate with promises on which they cannot make good.
