The ongoing scandal of the government’s secret surveillance of civilians is having an effect on voters with less than a week until the 19th parliamentary elections.

As rival parties continued to blame one another, swing voters have started to make up their mind in favor of either the ruling Saenuri Party or the opposition, making competition fiercer in many crucial constituencies.

According to a poll conducted for the JoongAng Ilbo earlier this week, only 21.9 percent of respondents remained neutral over the race in Youngdeungpo-B, one of the hottest battlefields in Seoul.

This was a visible fall from the 46.6 percent recorded in early March before the official electoral campaign period began.

Parties have a view that the shift will largely act in the left-wing’s favor, despite the efforts of the ruling party and the presidential office to lay some of the blame on the former liberal administration.

“The growing inter-party disputes over the issue may unite the voters in traditional conservative strongholds but will generally fan the public’s animosity against the current government,” said an official of the Saenuri election committee.

“We especially expect hardships in Seoul, due to the high proportion of swing voters here.”

DUP chairperson Han Myeong-sook, on the other hand, displayed her approval over the changes.

“We sense a positive disturbance among the voters,” she said. “With the help of the left-wing unity, we will be able to realize the aspired changes.”

Experts, too, predicted that the given issue may up the polls for the DUP and its candidate during the coming week.

“Rep. Park Geun-hye almost succeeded in conveying an image of renewal to the public, until the opposition brought up the surveillance allegation,” said an official of the Korea Society Opinion Institute. “Now the game will depend on which side of the story the voters will believe in.”

In the most dramatic case, the DUP’s poll results may rise by up to 10 percent by the weekend, he added.

The left wing is nevertheless taking all precautions as charges are also being raised against the former Roh Moo-hyun government and its key officials.

The prosecution arrested late on Tuesday former presidential aides Lee Young-ho and Choi Jong-seok on charges of destroying the evidence of the illegal surveillance.

While the scandal escalated, the DUP demanded that President Lee Myung-bak and Park attend a public hearing as witnesses. The ruling camp, however, shot back that Park was the victim of the former government’s surveillance and blamed the opposition for using the issue as an election campaign strategy.

By Bae Hyun-jung
(tellme@heraldcorp.com)