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Summary Voters in Seoul went to the polls to decide whether all children should receive free school meals.
It is a test for South Koreas ruling conservatives ahead of crucial elections next year.The poll has in effect turned into a vote of confidence on Mayor Oh Se-Hoon, a presidential hopeful from the ruling conservative Grand National Party (GNP) who vowed to step down if the free lunches for all go ahead.He says the city cannot afford what he describes as a pork-barrel policy, while the opposition argues the ruling party has failed to prioritise social welfare as the countrys wealth gap has grown.The vote is being closely watched as a litmus test of voter sentiment ahead of parliamentary elections next April and a presidential vote in December 2012.Oh, who has Lees backing, called the referendum after the opposition-controlled city council gave all pupils from grades one to six free meals, instead of limiting them to children from below the poverty line.The mayor has promised to step down if the turnout fails to reach a quorum of one third of the citys 8.4 million eligible voters -- in which case the expansion of free lunches will go ahead -- or if voters back the policy.The support base of President Lee Myung-Bak and his ruling party has been eroded due to economic woes and a perceived widening gap between the rich and the poor, and between large companies and small and medium-sized enterprises.Three hours before the polls were due to close at 8pm (1100 GMT), turnout was 20.8 percent. The ballots will be counted only if the turnout exceeds 33.3 percent, and results are expected around midnight.Low turnout means the GNP will be in a very difficult position in next years elections, Busan University professor Kim Yong-Cheol told cable news network YTN.The ruling party suffered a demoralising defeat in by-elections in April. Lees five-year term ends in early 2013 and the constitution bars presidents from serving a second term. Ohs alternative proposal to limit the offer to the poorest 50 percent of families would cost 304 billion won ($283 million) a year, compared with the oppositions 409 billion won, according to the Dong-A Ilbo daily.At a televised media conference on Sunday, the mayor knelt down before the cameras and began crying, appealing to voters to come out and deliver their judgment against what he branded welfare populism.Oh says a free-for-all lunch programme would increase the demand for more pork-barrel policies, straining an already stretched budget.The liberal opposition Democratic Party (DP) has campaigned for a referendum boycott, accusing the mayor of squandering taxpayers money on the citys beautification projects while penny-pinching on lunch for children.How could he hurt the feelings of children by splitting the haves and have-nots? Mayor Oh made a truly wrongful decision, DP leader Sohn Hak-Kyu said.
