Participant Autonomy 21: "Gwangju Voter Turnout 37%, Democratic Party Faces Crisis"

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] Civic groups in the Gwangju area have sharply criticized the Democratic Party of Korea, urging it to undertake painful reforms in light of its crushing defeat in the recent local elections.

On the 2nd, Participation and Autonomy 21 stated, “Considering the last presidential election results where the margin of defeat was less than 1% and the fact that the party still controls parliamentary power with over 170 seats, this outcome is unbelievable,” adding, “Moreover, given the various disappointing mistakes made by the newly inaugurated government, it is difficult to describe this as anything other than a devastating defeat.”

They continued, “The Democratic Party, which came to power through the Candlelight Revolution, repeatedly ignored the aspirations of citizens. Over the past five years, social inequality has deepened,” and pointed out, “The youth, who were the main actors of the Candlelight Revolution, have given up hope that the future will be better than the present. The Democratic Party has also become part of the vested interests, merely trying to protect them, and has not taken action to protect and improve citizens’ lives. This anger extended through to this election.”

They also noted, “The low voter turnout in Gwangju clearly shows the loss of political efficacy toward the Democratic Party. The nationwide lowest turnout rate, barely exceeding 37%, is a crisis for the Democratic Party and a crisis for Gwangju’s community democracy,” and criticized, “The votes received by Democratic Party candidate Kang Ki-jung amount to only 25% of all eligible voters in Gwangju. Such low support in what is called the heartland of the Democratic Party indicates a crisis for the party.”

Furthermore, “Gwangju’s civic society demanded that the Democratic Party’s Gwangju branch actively pursue the political reforms promised during the presidential election,” emphasizing, “These include the full introduction of proportional representation to realize vote proportionality and the adoption of a runoff voting system to guarantee citizens’ suffrage. If there is not enough time to amend the election law, we urge the party to make a political decision in Gwangju to realize vote proportionality, such as considering not nominating proportional candidates or nominating only two candidates per basic council electoral district.”

They added, “They appealed that a political decision to realize cooperative politics beyond winner-takes-all competition would give new hope for politics to citizens nationwide, so at least Gwangju, the sacred place of democracy, should raise this hopeful voice,” but lamented, “The Democratic Party did not accept this demand.”

They concluded, “The Democratic Party’s Gwangju branch must deeply reflect on what Gwangju citizens, who have made highly political choices in every election, are trying to say through voter abstention,” and urged, “The lowest turnout rate of 37% is a warning to the Democratic Party, which has been preoccupied with protecting vested interests, and a demand to actively pursue political and livelihood reforms to overcome this. We hope the Democratic Party will respond to citizens’ warnings as soon as possible.”

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