Unbelievable High Approval Rating of GNP |
“Bribery scandals and sexual misdeeds can’t damage the approval rating of a political party. What is this, if it is not magic politics?”
Uri Party chairman Chung Dong-young, in a press conference on May 4, deplored the reality saying that Grand National Party (GNP) maintains a high approval rating of around 40 percent in spite of continuous scandals and corruptions. In fact, when GNP chairwoman Park Geun-hye recently heard the findings of approval ratings of political parties, she asked incredulously, “Is this correct?”
The approval rating of GNP once fell to 30.6 percent (Feb. 27, CRC) shortly after a sexual harassment scandal involving Rep. Choi Yeon-hee of GNP and a woman reporter in February and it went up even among a so-called “emperor tennis” controversy involving Seoul Mayor Lee Myung-bak. Even after a bribery scandal involving two GNP’s lawmakers, Kim Deog-ryong and Park Sung-vum who are accused of taking money from persons who were seeking the party’s endorsement, got exposed, the approval rating soared to 45 percent (April 27, Realmeter). According to GNP’s own survey, the rating was up to 48 percent. The Hankyoreh asked experts including politicians the reasons.
“When a player plays foul, should Advocaat be fired?”
Korea Society Opinion Institute’s senior researcher Jeong Chang-gyo said, “GNP’s recent bribery scandal gave us a weaker shock than a slush fund scandal in which Hyundai used its own car to deliver W10 billion to GNP in last presidential election. An advisor of a lawmaker of the ruling party said, “If a soccer player violates the rules, do they reprimand Advocaat?”
GNP’s self-cleansing effort also seems to support this. Prof. Kim Min-jeon of Kyunghee University said, “When a core lawmaker of GNP and its chairwoman Park’s closest associate like Kim Deog-ryong demanded an investigation voluntarily, people came to think the case as an individual misconduct.”
GNP already is a `luxury party’
Rep. Kim Jae-won of GNP stressed, “In an age when politics is a commodity, people’s main criterion of choice is faces of party leaders. GNP which owns Park Geun-hye, Lee Myung-bak, Sohn Hak-kyu and Oh Se-hun is perceived as a luxury party, while in the case of Uri Party, President Roh Moo-hyun, former Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan and Health and Welfare Minister Rhyu Si-min spoiled the party’s image.”
When a disheartening factor is disclosed, supporters unite more powerfully
The representative of Research Plus Im Sang-ryeol spoke, “The findings of opinion polls showed that voters of GNP are joining forces and they have come to their senses through an effect of repeated learning.
“Corruption can’t be accepted, but inefficiency is worse than that
Researcher Jeong Chang-gyo observed, “If GNP has an image of corruption, Uri Party has an image of inefficiency. Even if wrongdoings occur in succession, people support GNP more than the governing Uri Party.”
Lawmaker Park Hyeong-jun of GNP said, “The number of people who have decided never to vote for GNP is higher than those who have decided never to vote for Uri Party. It is because that an antipathy of the population for Roh Moo-hyun’s three-year administration is serious as such.”
