By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff Reporter
``I will stand up against a possible left-wing conspiracy to help get the presidential campaign on the right track,'' said a newly elected floor leader of the Grand National Party (GNP).
The main opposition party chose third-term lawmaker Ahn Sang-soo as a new floor leader Monday. He is replacing outgoing leader Rep. Kim Hyong-o.
An incoming floor leader Ahn pledged to place top priorities on defending freedom of the press and blocking the liberal camp's possible political plots designed to influence the presidential election results.
The third-term lawmaker made it clear that he has no intention to seek negative campaigning against the liberal party presidential candidates.
He said, ``But I will not sit back if they are trying to use undesirable methods in an effort to create a campaign environment in favor of the liberal camp.''
``I will apply zero-tolerance policy to any kind of smear politics,'' Ahn said.
Party officials said Ahn is close to presidential nominee Lee Myung-bak who was elected as the party's presidential nominee last week.
He denied it and said, ``It is not correct to characterize me as a lawmaker close to Lee.''
The third-term lawmaker described himself as an activist. He has good reason for the self-characterization.
Ahn was there when the liberal camp showed signs of what, he called, political plots to discredit GNP's leading presidential candidates during the primaries.
He took legal action against the officials of the spy agency and the lawmakers of the liberal camp, claiming that they were spreading false information about the leading presidential contenders of the party.
``The GNP needs a duo of a focused activist and a brain in key party posts to win the presidential election slated for Dec. 19,'' the lawmaker said.
``A dedicated activist will help the party preserve its interests, while a brain who has unrivaled expertise in the economy will help the low-income families break the vicious circle of poverty. They came to fall prey to poverty as the national leader mismanage the economy,'' the prosecutor-turned-lawmaker said.
His running mate is Rep. Lee Hahn-koo, who was elected as the party's chief policymaker.
Economist-turned-lawmaker Lee has extensive real world experiences with government and think tanks before joining the parliament.
Ahn said the duo of an activist and an economic specialist will help move the GNP presidential campaign forward.
Previously he served as head of a couple of in-house committees designed to tackle smear campaigns during the presidential and parliamentary elections.
During his tenure, Ahn and other lawmakers stood in protest outside the prosecution's building all night wearing no rain gear during a heavy rainy night, calling for the prosecution's fair investigation of the cases regarding GNP's presidential candidate's property.