In the Press
Candidate registration opens for April 10 parliamentary elections
- Mar 26, 2024
- 82
SEOUL, March 21 (Yonhap) -- Candidate registration opened Thursday for the April 10 parliamentary elections that could determine how the administration of President Yoon Suk Yeol will fare in the remaining three years in office.
The ruling People Power Party (PPP) has called for voter support, saying the Yoon administration has been unable to push its agenda forward for the past two years in the face of the opposition-controlled National Assembly.
The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) has urged voters to pass stern judgment on what it calls the "incompetent" administration, accusing it of causing the economy and the livelihoods of people to worsen seriously for the past two years.
Up for grabs in the elections are 300 National Assembly seats, 254 of them directly contested seats and 46 proportional representation seats. Both the PPP and the DP are vying to become the No. 1 party in the new National Assembly.
In the previous elections four years ago, the DP won a landslide victory by securing 180 seats.
As of 9 p.m., 607 candidates had registered in the nation's 254 electoral districts.
The DP had the most registered candidates at 234, followed by the PPP with 230.
Candidate registration will last through Friday.
Official campaigning is set to kick off on March 28, lasting for 13 days, with limited forms of electioneering permitted before the official campaign period begins.
Overseas voting is scheduled from March 27 to April 1, while early voting will take place on April 5-6.
Also drawing attention is how newly formed minor parties will fare, including the Korea Innovation Party led by disgraced former Justice Minister Cho Kuk, the New Reform Party led by former PPP leader Lee Jun-seok, and the New Future Party (Saemirae) led by former Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon.
khj@yna.co.kr
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