Democratic Party to hold key primary in traditional power base

Published : Mar 27, 2017 - 10:41 Updated : Mar 27, 2017 - 10:58

The liberal Democratic Party is set to hold its first primary election Monday at its own power base with the outcome of the vote likely to set the mood for the entire process to name the party's presidential candidate.

The one day vote at a college gym in Gwangju, located some 320 kilometers south of Seoul, is to involve about 1,900 party members.

The vote is set to begin at 2 p.m., according to party officials. The outcome of the vote will be released after being combined with the outcome of an earlier telephone survey and a vote that involved tens of thousands of citizens in the area.

(Yonhap)

Gwangju and the surrounding Jeolla provinces form what is commonly known as the Honam region, and is often considered the home of liberal parties, including the splinter People's Party.

A victory in the in-house vote in the region may very well determine the winner of the entire primary, political observers have noted.

The Democratic Party, currently the single largest party in the unicameral parliament, is set to announce its single candidate for the May 9 presidential election following the fourth and last round of its primary election in Seoul next Monday.

Currently, four contenders are seeking a party nomination. They are former party chief Moon Jae-in, South Chungcheong Province Gov. An Hee-jung, Seongnam City Mayor Lee Jae-myung and Goyang City Mayor Choi Sung.

Moon maintains what many observers here have called a comfortable lead over other contenders, including those from the former ruling Korea Liberty Party and the conservative Bareun Party.

In the latest poll on the presidential election conducted by Realmeter, Moon garnered a 34.4 percent approval rating, keeping his lead for the 12th consecutive week. He was followed by An from his own party with 17.1 percent and Ahn Cheol-soo, former chief of the People's Party, with 12.6 percent.

However, he will need to win a majority of votes in the party primary to be named the party's standard-bearer next Monday.

Should Moon or any other contender fail to win a majority of the vote, a run-off election will be held and the party's presidential candidate will be named next Saturday.

The Democratic Party's second primary election will be held in the central Chungcheong provinces on Wednesday, followed by a vote in the Yeongnam region that includes the southeastern port city of Busan on Friday.

The upcoming party elections will only include party members, but the entire process involves as many as 2 million non-party voters who have either taken part in a one-day vote last week or will be asked to vote in telephone surveys. (Yonhap)