Gloomy year-end for 48%

Main opposition party must go back to square one

Another year is passing us by, leaving more regrets and grief than pride and joy behind ― as always. Nowhere might this year-end’s atmosphere be gloomier than in the main opposition Democratic United Party (DUP), which lost an election most, including the party itself, thought it couldn’t lose.

Some second-guessers say in retrospect the DUP was destined to suffer defeat, citing several reasons, including the nation’s demographic change. We don’t buy that theory, as the rapid aging of the Korean society was neither new nor abrupt. But we agree with the inevitability of the DUP’s defeat, especially watching how it deals with the election’s aftermath.

The main opposition party has been in a psychological breakdown since Dec. 19, which is understandable to some extent. It is hard to understand, however, the DUP still doesn’t seem to know the correct reasons for its loss nor even tries hard to do so. Some DUP leaders even attempt to comfort themselves with what they view as a narrow margin in the 52-48 defeat, mired in just factional strife to stick to party hegemony.

Of course the election outcome was unexpected, and one of the most surprised was the winner, the ruling Saenuri Party. Yet, the DUP will remain where it stands for long until it knows what the 4-point gap means.

It might be quite disappointing for the liberal, left-of-center party to find an overwhelming majority of 50-something voters, who mostly elected liberal candidates when they were young, cast ballots for the nominee of the conservative governing party this time around. But this means the erstwhile supporters for democratic and egalitarian society are now more concerned about stable society that can guarantee their safer post-retirement life in terms of both household economy and national security.

Future elections, too, will likely no longer be the duels between more democracy and less democracy, justice and injustice, good and bad. In short, Korea’s middle-aged voters chose “better” life than “just” ones. Park Geun-hye and her Saenuri Party caught, if vaguely, this changing trend in voter sentiment and succeeded in preempting the ideological center.

Some DUP members and part of its supporters who belonged to the 48 percent may be hoping Park will break her campaign promises and mess up the state administration, disappointing the electorate. To their dismay, that may not happen. There are considerable chances Park will carry out her welfare pledges and some political reforms, and even reopen inter-Korean dialogue, provided she can differentiate herself not just from her predecessor of the same party but also from her autocratic father, former President Park Chung-hee.

Should DUP try to obstruct Park and her administration whenever there are chances to make her a failed president? That seems not to be a good idea as the lessons from the U.S. opposition party have shown. Instead the liberal opposition ought to keep a close watch to assure Park carries out campaign pledges, especially those which were essentially the same with the DUP’s own, press her to keep promises as far as the government’s fiscal conditions allow, and even cooperate with her for the successful implementation of policies to make working-class families’ lives better.

What should the DUP do if and when Park ends up a good president five years later? Then, they will only have to produce a “better” candidate. Elections should not necessarily be a good vs. bad candidates but an event choosing a better nominee over a mere good one. To realize this, the liberal camp should make reforms ― changing to the bone as its new floor leader pledged ― and work out platforms more attuned to everyday life, not ideology, of the electorate.

It then should move closer to the people. The opposition party called for Park to pay more attention to workers’ problems. Why don’t DUP leaders themselves comfort the bereaved family members of the workers who committed suicides, and visit protesting unionists in the middle of steel towers?

If the liberal party shows some signs of being reborn as the political group serving the grass-root voters with deeds, not words, the final day of 2012 would be far less grim for 48 percent of voters who supported it. <The Korea Times>