Poll: 33.8% of people want PPP chairman to resign

Jul 08, 2022, 09:30 am

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People Power Party (PPP) Chairman Lee Jun-seok speaks during the first meeting of senior ruling party and government officials since the inauguration of the Yoon Suk-yeol government held at the prime minister’s official residence in Seoul, July 6, 2022./ Source: National Assembly Joint Press Corps

AsiaToday reporter Kim Na-ri

Three out of 10 people believe that People Power Party (PPP) Chairman Lee Jun-seok should resign over sexual bribery scandal, a new poll has found. As the recent controversy is viewed as if the ruling PPP is ignoring the livelihood of the people and seen as political strife between rival parties, public sentiment on Lee is not amicable.

The poll, conducted by polling agency Opinion Research Justice on July 4-5 at the request of Dailian, asked 1,002 adults nationwide. When asked about demand for PPP Chairman Lee Jun-seok’s withdrawal, 33.8 percent of the respondents said Lee should resign from his post.

Meanwhile, 23.3 percent said that Lee should maintain his post until his term of office in June next year, with 20.7 percent saying Lee should follow the decision of the PPP’s ethics committee and 17.8 percent saying Lee should wait for the police investigation. Among the PPP supporters, 31 percent said Lee should step down himself. This means many supporters believe that Lee’s sexual bribery allegations and a recent dispute between Lee and a key official of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration are causing confusion within the ruling PPP and adversely affecting the approval ratings of President Yoon Suk-yeol and the ruling party.

Observers say the division within the party will deepen as hostility between Lee and pro-Yoon Suk-yeol group surfaces with the disciplinary review of the ethics committee. Some say this is reminiscent of the conflict between the pro-Party Geun-hye and non-Park groups during the former President Park Geun-hye’s administration. By then, the Saenuri Party, the predecessor of the PPP, underwent impeachment of Park Geun-hye and general elections, and its factional conflicts between pro-Park and non-Park groups eventually led to the party’s downfall.

Meanwhile, as the main opposition Democratic Party’s Lee Jae-myung is about to run for the party’s chairmanship at the national convention planned for August, 50 percent of the respondents said they disapprove of Lee’s candidacy. Half of the respondents evaluated Lee’s candidacy negatively, with 36.2 percent saying it is a ‘very bad decision’ and 13.8 percent calling it a ‘bad decision’. On the other hand, 39.5 percent evaluated it positively, with 25.2 percent calling it an ‘excellent decision’ and 14.3 percent a ‘good decision’. And 10.5 percent said they are uncertain.

Among DP supporters, 75.9 percent viewed Lee’s candidacy positively. The DP’s preparatory committee for the national convention decided to elect a new head of the party by reflecting the votes of central committee members by 70 percent and the results of a public opinion poll by 30 percent. Political observers say this is advantageous to Rep. Lee due to his popularity.

The poll asked 1,002 adults nationwide on July 4-5. It was a telephone and cell phone survey using an automatic response system (ARS). It had a confidence level of 95 percent with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, with the response rate at 3.3 percent.

#poll #PPP chairman #Lee Jun-seok #Lee Jae-myung