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| Co-chairmen of the center-right Bareun Mirae Party Yoo Seong-min, left, and Park Joo-sun speak at a party meeting in Gwangju, Monday. / Yonhap |
By Choi Ha-young
The third-largest Bareun Mirae Party (BMP), which was established in February through the merger of the conservative Bareun Party and the liberal People's Party, is reeling from its scanty support rate ― 6.8 percent.
The rate, issued by local pollster Realmeter Monday, is not so different from the last support rate of the Bareun Party before the merger ― 5.7 percent ― released by the pollster, Feb. 12. In the same poll, the People's Party stood at 4.8 percent.
The latest poll proves that the merger failed to create synergy: 6.8 percent is lower than 10.5 percent ― the combination of 5.7 percent of the Bareun Party and 4.8 percent of the People's Party.
The 30-seat BMP gained support of 10.5 percent on Feb. 15, in the first opinion survey conducted after its establishment, but this kept decreasing afterward. The BMP said that the party has yet to be recognized as a merged party.
"To raise awareness of the party, we visited Gwangju today and will head for Busan Friday. On Friday, we will hold an event at Hwagae Market to highlight the party's message of regional integration," BMP spokesman Kim Chul-keun said. The party has emphasized that it will break the regionalism between the western Jeolla area and the eastern Gyeongsang area.
The minor liberal Party for Democracy and Peace (PDP), a splinter group of the People's Party, is in the same boat. The 14-seat party, mainly based in the southern Jeolla area, received a support rate of 3 percent, Monday. Other than in the Jeolla area, it only gained 1 to 2 percent.
"The newly created minor parties haven't made any breakthroughs to gain popularity, which is partly overshadowed by the Winter Olympics," said Yoon Tae-gon, a senior political analyst at The Moa Agenda & Strategy.
Further, divisive issues such as North Korean affairs are generally disadvantageous for minor parties, Yoon noted. "If they succeed in recruiting new figures ahead of the local election in June, they could make a leap forward. Particularly, the BMP can attract conservative voters who are unhappy with the larger conservative Liberty Korea Party," he added.
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