South Korea conservatives win parliamentary poll, boost for Park
Baku, April 12 (AZERTAC). South Korea`s ruling conservative party has clung on to a parliamentary majority, losing less seats than forecast and bolstering the presidential ambitions of its leader Park Geun-hye, the daughter of a strong-arm ruler who was assassinated.
Despite a strong challenge from the liberal opposition and millions of disaffected young voters, the pro-business New Frontier or Saenuri Party got a wafer-thin majority of 152 seats in the 300-strong assembly, election results on Thursday showed.
Opinion polls had forecast a hung parliament, while other experts had expected the Twitter generation, or the under-40 voters who make up a large chunk of the electorate, would hand the liberals a win.
But all the opposition could do was to cut the conservative majority from 162 seats in the previous election.
"We will make a fresh start... We will embrace all generations and classes," said Park, 60, who has been dubbed the "Queen of Elections" for poll wins in the past when the conservatives were headed toward electoral oblivion.
Even though the conservatives were once again tainted by allegations of sleaze in the run-up to the elections, Park appears to have captured the popular mood in South Korea, the world`s 13th largest economy, by moving to the left with promises of more welfare spending.
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