By Bernama
Seoul : Candidates for South Korea’s April 9 parliamentary elections will kick off official campaigning after midnight Thursday with rival parties expected to engage in a fierce battle to gain a majority in the National Assembly, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported.
The candidates’ two-day registration with the election watchdog will end at 5 p.m. Wednesday, with a total of 839 aspirants registered as of 11 a.m. for 245 constituencies nationwide, or a 3.4-to-1 rate of competition, the National Election Commission (NEC) said.
The election watchdog has estimated 1,300 hopefuls will file for candidacy by the end of the registration period, marking a competition ratio of 5 to 1, compared to the 4.8-to-1 in the 2004 elections.
The ruling Grand National Party (GNP) and the main opposition United Democratic Party (UDP) are expected to launch a fierce competition to win a majority of the 299 seats with the GNP still leading in various public surveys.
But the GNP’s initial hope of winning two-thirds of the seats, backed by President Lee Myung-bak’s landslide win in December, is faltering under the weight of a recent bribery scandal surrounding its nominee and ugly factional fighting.
Should the ruling party fail to secure a simple majority in the National Assembly, the Lee administration will face hurdles in pushing ahead with major reform bills during its five-year term.
During the official March 27-April 8 campaign period, candidates can campaign freely, but the election law bans multiple-candidate debates in constituencies and party-member-only rallies.
In an effort to promote fair competition and head off vote rigging, the NEC has increased the number of election inspectors to 10,000, up from 6,000 in 2004.
Under a stricter election law, those found to have received cash or gifts worth over 1 million won (US$1,013) from candidates will be subject to criminal charges.
Absentee voting will be conducted on April 3 and 4, and the voting on April 9 is to take place at some 13,000 polling stations across the nation from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Ballots will be counted immediately after the stations close and the results should be available around midnight, the NEC said.