On the 16th, Ahn Cheol-soo, chairman of the People’s Party, officially declared the breakup of the union, saying, “Efforts to unite the two parties, the People’s Party and People’s Power, have stopped here.” As Ahn hinted at the possibility of running for president on his own instead of unifying the opposition, there are speculations that the next presidential election could be reorganized into a three-party structure.
Representative Ahn held a press conference at the National Assembly on the same day and said, “I was not able to reach the final result due to my shortcomings.” However, Ahn said, “We have come to the conclusion that unification, such as eliminating a single party or a small party for the sake of unity, is never desirable, neither for regime change nor for making the Republic of Korea a better place.”
He clashed with the Democratic Party of Korea and the people, arguing that “regime change should not be a turning point in the hostile confrontational politics that both established parties have repeated in the past.”
The two parties have been negotiating a merger party since the April 7 re-election and by-elections, but there was no agreement on the “People’s Power Party name change” and the distribution of major party positions, which the People’s Party insisted on. In addition to this, the emotional strife between Lee Jun-seok, the representative of the People’s Power, and Ahn, the representative, made the negotiations difficult.
Ahn, left room for ‘unification of the field after independent running for president’
Ahn Cheol-soo declares the breakup of the union
Uncertainty in the composition of the opposition presidential election also increased with Ahn’s declaration of the breakup of the coalition. As Ahn has virtually solidified his own candidacy policy, it is predicted that, like the April 7 Seoul mayoral by-election, there is a growing possibility that the unification phase between the People’s Power candidates and the 3rd Zone candidates will be repeated in next year’s presidential election.
At a press conference on the 16th, Ahn said, “With the current main opposition party alone, regime change is becoming difficult. It is impossible to change the government without expanding the support base of the (opposition),” he said. And I will fulfill the vocation of the times given to me.” An opposition official said, “The realistic judgment that it is difficult to become a finalist even if Ahn, who has no support base within the people’s power, enters the primary after joining the party, while former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol and former Auditor General Choi Jae-hyung entered the power of the people. will,” he analyzed.
In the opposition, there is already a scenario in which Representative Ahn, with former Deputy Prime Minister Kim Dong-yeon, and former Deputy Prime Minister of Economy Kim Dong-yeon, will unify the candidates for the 3rd Zone and then push for the final unification of the opposition with the People’s Power candidate. Regarding solidarity with former Deputy Prime Minister Kim on the same day, Ahn opened up the possibility, saying, “If you think about the future of the country and have the idea of making a better Korea, you are ready to meet and discuss with anyone.” Kwon Eun-hee, floor leader of the People’s Party, said in a phone call with the Dong-A Ilbo on the 16th, “We will revise the party constitutional rules to make the People’s Party itself a third-zone platform.” Solidarity with former Prosecutor General Yoon, who is still there, could also be smoothed out.”
People’s Power, following former President Yoon and former President Choi, put Ahn on a ‘primary bus’ to hold a one-on-one presidential election with the Democratic Party. In particular, there seems to be concern about the possibility that Ahn’s current approval rating of around 5% may act as a casting boat in the presidential election.
In response, the presidential candidates for the People’s Power have urged the resumption of the integration negotiations. Former lawmaker Yoo Seung-min said on Facebook, “I look forward to the resumption of discussions on integration as soon as possible,” and former Jeju governor Won Hee-ryong also urged, “Even if you stay up for several days or several nights, negotiate again.” Former Director Choi also met with reporters and emphasized, “Ultimately, we need to maintain a relationship where we can gather strength.”
Reporter Dabin Yoon empty@donga.com Go to reporter page>
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