Political reshuffle likely after local elections
  • 6 years ago
What will the outcome mean for the political dynamics of the country?

Well, if it's a landslide for the ruling party, it also means a devastating loss for the main opposition.
That might lead to some serious political reshuffling -- which could come in the form of a change in party leadership, the formation of a coalition,... or defections to other parties,... so some parties could change quite a bit from how they look right now.

Such a result would be good for the ruling party in that it will be easier to get President Moon Jae-in's policy agendas rolling across all four corners of the country... should his party take up most of the regions.
But some experts also say that it's important to keep a balance between the progressive and conservative bloc,... in order to keep the ruling party in check.

Likewise for parliament.
The ruling party currently has 118 seats,... and should it win 11 seats... that would give it 129.
There are three independent candidates that lean towards the ruling party -- meaning 132.
They are still short of the majority of 150,... but left leaning parties -- the Party for Democracy and the Peace and Justice Party, together have 20 seats.
So, it's likely that those two parties will have the deciding vote when it comes to parliamentary affairs.
So, the main opposition and centrist party may have some difficulty keeping the government in check,... or blocking agendas they don't support.

Now the ball is more or less in the voters' court,... and we will have to see what they choose. Thanks so much for coming in today.

My pleasure.
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