She could not smile with a light heart even while holding a bouquet of flowers to celebrate her election victory.

This is the story of New Politics Alliance for Democracy lawmaker Kwon Eun-hee (40), who was elected in the by-election in the Gwangsan district 2 in Gwangju on July 30. The New She could not smile with a light heart even while holding a bouquet of flowers to celebrate her election victory.

This is the story of New Politics Alliance for Democracy lawmaker Kwon Eun-hee (40), who was elected in the by-election in the Gwangsan district 2 in Gwangju on July 30. The New Politics Alliance for Democracy candidates who won in the latest election achieved their goal of gaining a seat in the National Assembly, but their hearts were heavy before the reality of the party, which suffered utter defeat.

Especially in the case of Kwon, who many claim achieved glory which in essence is only full of scars. People are criticizing that as the key figure in the New Politics Alliance for Democracy's candidate nomination controversy, Kwon, voluntarily or not, provided the reason for the party's defeat.

Earlier Kwon had become the center of controversy after strategically being nominated for Gwangsan district 2 in Gwangju, virtually a guaranteed seat in the National Assembly. Kwon had reversed her decision not to run in the election, which she had expressed when she resigned from the police force. Furthermore, her bid could lead people to doubt her intentions behind her expose of external pressure in the investigation of online messages posted by the National Intelligence Service.

The Saenuri Party had immediately attacked the nomination claiming that it was a “gift.” Later on, as allegations that Kwon failed to report the full the amount of property owned by her husband were raised, it left not a small impact in the early stages of the election. Some even claimed, “Everyone died except Kwon Eun-hee.”

It’s also difficult to give Kwon “passing grades.” The voter turnout in Gwangsan district 2 in Gwangju was 22.3%, the lowest among the fifteen constituencies where the by-elections were held this time. Kwon received 60.6% of the votes. Based on the total number of voters, this means Kwon’s approval rating is about 13.5%. Some experts argue that voters expressed their opinions of “no confidence” by refusing to go to the polls.

Kwon seems to have been aware of this, for she said, “The reason that the voter turnout was lower than in other areas was because I did not properly represent the minds of the voters, the residents of Gwangsan-gu, Gwangju,” when saying a few words on her victory. She also said, “We need a new politics which can make the residents who left the polls want to return to vote.”

In Suwon district 3, Gyeonggi Province, lawmaker Park Kwang-on (57), who was the only opposition candidate to be elected in the Seoul metropolitan area, defeated Saenuri Party candidate Yim Tae-hee, known as the “MB(former President Lee Myung-bak) man,” and received the spotlight, but his face was not all bright. After all, he was the only survivor in the Seoul metropolitan area among the opposition candidates.

On July 31, in an SBS radio interview Park said, “It is true that my shoulders are heavy and my heart is heavy. My heart is heavy because many of our party’s candidates were not elected.”