Ahn proposes merging candidacies with main opposition candidate Yoon

FigureAhn Cheol-soo, right, presidential candidate of the People's Party, shakes hands with Yoon Suk-yeol of the main opposition People Power Party during a TV debate at broadcaster MBN's studio in the Jung District of Seoul, Feb. 11. Yonhap

Minor presidential candidate Ahn Cheol-soo officially proposed merging candidacies with main opposition candidate Yoon Suk-yeol, Sunday, to ensure an "overwhelming victory" against the governing party.

Ahn of the centrist People's Party also proposed selecting a unified candidate between the two through opinion polls, the same method adopted to unify candidacies with Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon of Yoon's People Power Party ahead of last year's local by-elections.

"Winning is important, but in order to overcome the current crisis and carry out future-oriented reform tasks, there should be an overwhelming victory amid people's trust. This can't be done by any single person alone," Ahn said during a press conference held via YouTube.

"I am looking forward to a sincere response to my proposal from candidate Yoon," he said.

Regardless of who becomes the unified candidate, the other should be his running mate, Ahn said.

Ahn and Yoon have been under growing pressure from conservatives to join forces to boost the opposition's election chances, with such political engineering seen as the surest guarantee of success in a remarkably tight race.

Polls have shown Yoon and ruling party candidate Lee Jae-myung of the liberal Democratic Party (DP) neck-and-neck with support of around 40 percent each, while Ahn has recently climbed to just below 20 percent in some surveys.

Ahn had planned to hold an in-person conference earlier in the day but called off the plan and instead held an online conference after his wife tested positive for COVID-19. (Yonhap)

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