By Lee Tae-hoon
The main opposition Democratic United Party (DUP) selected the runner-up of the party’s leadership primary on Jan. 15 this year to temporarily replace Han Myeong-sook, who resigned as the leader of the liberal party Friday, a party spokesman said Monday.
The top post in the DUP had been vacant after former Prime Minister Han stepped down to take responsibility for defeat in the April 11 National Assembly elections.
DUP spokesman Park Yong-jin said Moon Sung-keun, a noted actor and son of the late democracy fighter Rev. Moon Ik-hwan, will assume the task of Han as an acting chairman until a new leadership is elected.
“Our party decided to have Moon Sung-keun as acting leader for the time being in a meeting of the decision-making Supreme Council members in accordance with party regulations,” he said. “However, the council plans to elect a floor leader as soon as possible and allow them to serve as head of the party’s interim leadership.”
Party officials say that senior members of the DUP have reached an agreement to elect the floor leader on May 4 and hold a national convention to pick a new chairperson and Supreme Council members on June 9.
They say the new floor leader will assume the role of supervising a fair election for the party leadership.
However, the decision to have Moon as an acting leader has triggered a strong backlash within the party, especially from those who have demanded all Supreme Council members resign en masse for the disappointing election results.
Rep. Choi Jae-sung said the leadership’s decision to temporarily allow Moon to take the helm was the “wrong decision.”
“How can the people understand why Supreme Council members continue to stay in power even after the chairwoman left office?” he asked. “This is no different that Cabinet members keeping their posts after the president steps down.”
Rep. Park Jie-won, a Supreme Council member, also expressed strong discontent that Moon, who he sees as a potential rival for the presidency, continues to exercise influence in the party ahead of the party’s two crucial elections.
Of 300 seats-up-for-grabs, the DUP only managed to take 127 seats, while the ruling Saenuri Party maintained its majority status in the National Assembly with 152 seats.
Moon, who ran in a constituency in Busan, also lost to a candidate from the Saenuri Party, reflecting a growing sense of disappointment in the DUP whose popularity had soared on the back of a series of scandals involving the ruling party and Cheong Wa Dae.