The opposition’s talks to form a single candidacy for the Dec. 19 presidential election are at a crossroads, after independent candidate Ahn Cheol-soo offered to meet Moon Jae-in, his rival from the main opposition Democratic United Party (DUP).
As a precondition for the meeting, Ahn asked Moon to show his strong determination to reform the DUP. The liberal party welcomed the proposal, saying Moon’s will to pursue political reform is firm and strong. With this, the halted talks on a unified candidacy will likely resume soon.
But the two liberal candidates can’t avoid criticism from voters who complain about the as yet unclear landscape of the ongoing presidential race with little more than a month left before the election. Even without the latest commotion sparked by Ahn’s sudden suspension of the talks on Wednesday, a growing number of voters complain that the candidate merger issue is eclipsing all other important issues, including the suitability of candidates and verification of their pledges on policies.
The fact is that there are not even debates concerning their policies and visions for the future, let alone arguments over the validity of their campaign pledges.
With the single candidacy question becoming a constant in our presidential elections, there is a louder voice that the nation must introduce a presidential runoff system, which envisions picking one of the top two runners if none wins a majority in the first poll. Given that there always have been third candidates in previous elections, the need for the runoff system will be greater. In some ways, it may be natural that the second- and third-ranked candidates feel tempted to beat the front-runner through an alliance.
The presidential runoff has many advantages. First of all, a president elected through the system ― one with majority support ― will have greater representation and can carry out his or her duties more easily. No wonder all our presidents since the nation’s democratization in 1987 have had difficulty in doing their job after being elected with support of less than 50 percent ― 36.6 percent for Roh Tae-woo, 41 percent for Kim Young-sam, 40.3 percent for Kim Dae-jung, 48.9 percent for Roh Moo-hyun and 48.7 percent for incumbent Lee Myung-bak.
Under the presidential system of government that envisions empowering the president singlehandedly, it would be pointless to agree on a single candidacy on the assumption that the candidates will share power.
Worse yet, it would be all but impossible for candidates to compete by focusing on policies. That’s because all attention tends to be paid to the single candidacy issue.
The opposite will be true, though, if the runoff is introduced. All candidates will compete fiercely to win the hearts and minds of voters in their ultimate bid to take the top two posts. In the process, they will be busy developing new and inventive policies and suggesting the vision for the future.
In a word, the adoption of the presidential runoff will ensure a stable leadership. Yet that won’t be an easy task, given that partisan interests will be poles apart after the election. This is where the new president’s leadership should shine ― he or she must persuade all parties involved to introduce the runoff system by all means.