(MENAFN- Qatar News Agency) Oul june 05 (qna) - riding on a wave of anti-government sentiment in the wake of a deadly ferry disaster south korea's main opposition party sailed to a slim victory in wednesday's nationwide local elections that were seen as a midterm vote on president park geun-hye (yonhap) reported.
the main opposition new politics alliance for democracy (npad) won nine of the 17 key races for big-city mayors and provincial governors including seoul mayorship while the ruling saenuri party won the other eight races according to the national election commission.
as the first nationwide elections under park the polls were seen as a test of public support for the conservative administration that has drawn heavy fire for its botched handling of the sinking of the ferry sewol in april that claimed the lives of more than 300 people.
according to the election watchdog the ruling party won races for mayors of busan daegu incheon and ulsan and governors of gyeonggi province north gyeongsang and south gyeongsang provinces and the island of jeju.
despite the widespread criticism of the government however the results were not as lopsided in favor of the opposition as had been expected. regionalism demonstrated its power in this week's elections again with the ruling and opposition parties sweeping races in their home turf regions.
the main opposition npad won contests for mayors of seoul gwangju daejeon and sejong and governors of gangwon province north chungcheong and south chungcheong provinces and north and south jeolla provinces according to the results.
also elected in wednesday's votes were regional education chiefs. though the candidates ran without party affiliations liberal and opposition-leaning contestants clinched victories in 13 out of the 17 races a result seen as reflecting parents' anger at the ferry disaster that claimed the lives of hundreds of high school students.
the ruling party expressed relief with the outcome. (qna)
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