Popular S. Korean mayor backs opposition ahead of poll
Thu, 23 Feb 2012 10:07 GMT
By Jeremy Laurence
SEOUL, Feb 23 (Reuters) - South Korea's resurgent main opposition won the backing of the capital's popular independent mayor on Thursday, giving the left-of-centre party an important boost ahead of a general election in April.
Opinion polls show the ruling conservatives face defeat in the parliamentary polls, and that the party will struggle to hold onto the presidency in another vote in December.
President Lee Myung-bak's mandatory single five-year term ends in 12 months.
A faltering economy and growing wealth divide are the main issues in the elections in Asia's fourth largest economy.
Lawyer-turned-activist Park Won-soon joined the main opposition Democratic United Party's (DUP) ranks about six months after winning an election for Seoul mayor, which is considered the country's second most important job. He had contested that poll as an independent.
Park told reporters in Seoul he also hoped to persuade popular software-tycoon-turned-professor Ahn Cheol-soo to join the party this year, raising the possibility that Ahn could run for president.
Ahn, who has no party affiliation, arrived on the political scene last year when he hinted he might run for Seoul mayor, but instead he backed Park who went on to comfortably beat the candidate from the ruling conservatives.
Late last year, opinion polls showed Ahn had opened up a 10 percentage point winning lead over the conservative's main presidential hope, Park Geun-hye. Ahn is especially popular with younger voters.
His support has fallen this year as he has repeatedly played down his presidential ambitions.
A Realmeter opinion poll released this week showed the DUP widening its lead over the ruling conservatives to more than 5 percentage points on a party-by-party basis. Other polls also show the conservatives headed for defeat.
The conservatives have seen their support rates slide amid corruption scandals and the perception the party favours the wealthy and big businesses.
The opposition says its policy is geared more toward helping small- and medium-size enterprises instead of big businesses, known as chaebol, which are the main drivers of the export-led economy.
The opposition has also vowed to try to repeal a free trade pact with the United States that is due to come into effect next month.
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