SURVEY ON SEOUL MAYORAL BY-ELECTION

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A public opinion survey has begun today to determine the opposition bloc's unified candidate for the upcoming Seoul mayoral by-election. Prior to the public poll, a joint media survey was held over the weekend and found that the two leading opposition candidates--the People Power Party's Oh Se-hoon and the People's Party's Ahn Cheol-soo--are running neck and neck. According to the survey, either of the two is predicted to win over their ruling party rival Park Young-sun if they field a single candidate. Here is more.

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Over the weekend, the nation's 3 major broadcasters--KBS, MBC and SBS--conducted a joint survey regarding selecting a unified candidate of the opposition bloc for the April Seoul mayoral by-election. On who is better as the unified opposition candidate, 34.4 percent of respondents supported Oh Se-hoon of the main opposition People Power Party, while 34.3 stood behind Ahn CHeol-soo of the minor opposition People's Party.
The two are virtually tied. Still, 31.4 percent remained undecided, saying neither one was suitable or they don't know yet. When asked to pick a likely winner over the ruling Democratic Party's Park Young-sun, Oh Se-hoon garnered 39.0 percent and Ahn Cheol-soo 37.3 percent. Again it's very close. 23.7 percent were not yet fixed to either of the two. In both questions, conservatives prefered Oh , while centrist voters favored Ahn. The survey found either of them has a higher chance of winning the election over the ruling party rival if they field a unified candidate. If Oh Se-hoon is selected as the single opposition candidate, he is predicted to win 47 percent and beat Park Young-sun by a margin of 16.6 percentage points. If Ahn Cheol-soo becomes the single opposition candidate, he would likely garner 45.9 percent, 16.0 percentage points more than Park Young-sun. This indicates conservative and centrist voters will support a unified opposition candidate, no matter which of the two wins the ticket. What if the opposition bloc fails to field a unified candidate, And the three are running individually against each other? The response shows Oh wins at 30.2 percent, Park 27.3 percent and Ahn 24.0 percent. All of them remain within the margin of error. 59.3 percent of respondents answered that an opposition candidate should win the Seoul mayoral by-election to send a clear message to the government and ruling party. But 32.7 percent said a ruling party candidate should be elected for political stability. Regarding President Moon Jae-in's performance, 62.2 percent gave a negative assessment while 35.0 percent approved.