Proposal to Distribute Masks Using General Election Subsidy Funds
[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] On the 3rd, Ahn Cheol-soo, leader of the People’s Party, proposed that all political parties return the election support fund of 44 billion won and use the resources to provide masks to voters. On Facebook that day, Ahn said, "The election subsidies paid to political parties for the April 15 general election amount to a total of 44 billion won, including 12 billion won to the Democratic Party of Korea and 11.5 billion won to the United Future Party, and the fake satellite proportional representation parties of the two entrenched parties took as much as 8.6 billion won," adding, "If all fake parties exceed 3% of the party vote rate, they will receive an additional 14.7 billion won of taxpayers’ money on top of the 8.6 billion won already received."
Ahn pointed out, "Political parties have already received 43.2 billion won last year and 11 billion won this year as operational subsidies separate from the election subsidies," and criticized, "The economy is in a total crisis now, and ordinary people are about to be out on the streets. Isn’t it inappropriate to hold a lavish election funded by taxpayers’ money when people can’t even afford meals?"
Ahn said, "If the purchase price of public masks is calculated at about 1,000 won per mask, 44 million masks can be purchased, and considering the average voter turnout of 52.7% in the last three general elections, about two masks per voter can be distributed to all voters," adding, "I also think it is very meaningful to support low-income students with tablet PCs for online lectures."
Ahn is employing an election strategy differentiated from established parties, such as volunteering for medical services in Daegu for the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) and undertaking the Cheonrigil National Long-Distance Trek. However, the People’s Party’s approval rating remains stagnant below 5%. According to a survey conducted by Realmeter commissioned by tbs from March 30 to April 1 targeting 1,514 voters aged 18 and over nationwide (response rate 5.7%, sampling error ±2.5 percentage points at a 95% confidence level), the People’s Party’s approval rating was 4.3%, up 1.0 percentage point from the previous week. For more details, refer to the Central Election Poll Deliberation Commission website.
The People’s Party was not invited to the official broadcast debates for the April 15 general election due to low party support ratings. According to the rules of the National Election Commission, candidates invited to debates hosted by the Election Broadcast Debate Commission must be recommended by ▲a party with five or more members in the National Assembly, ▲a party that received 3% or more of the total valid votes nationwide in the previous elections such as the 19th presidential election or the 20th proportional representation National Assembly election, or ▲a party whose average support rating in opinion polls conducted by media organizations between 30 days before the start of the election period and the day before the election period is 5% or higher.
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