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| Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo speaks at an open forum at a wedding hall in Busan, Wednesday, to explain how his camp and the main opposition Democratic Party reached an agreement on the formation of an opposition coalition party. / Yonhap |
By Jun Ji-hye
Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo Wednesday launched a counterattack against President Park Geun-hye who the previous day downplayed his call for new politics.
"Park had better talk about the ruling Saenuri Party that has been breaking a number of its campaign pledges, (rather than talking about the opposition's push for new politics)," said the independent lawmaker.
Ahn's comments came after Park said at a Cabinet meeting: "The true new politics must begin with work to improve the people's livelihoods and the economic conditions. It is very regrettable that the nation's politics fail to do that."
Park's remarks were obviously seen as an attack against the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) and Rep. Ahn's latest move to form a new opposition coalition party to confront the ruling party in the June 4 local elections.
Ahn and DP Chairman Kim Han-gil said the two camps will merge for the same goal of pushing for new politics and eventually changing the government in the next presidential election in 2017.
Ahn made perhaps his strongest-ever comments against Park at the first joint meeting with the DP to discuss details of the coalition.
"It's even hard to list how many campaign pledges the governing side has been withdrawing, because there are too many," said the first-term lawmaker. "Under the Park government and the Saenuri Party, many welfare pledges as well as promises for the democratization of the economy are disappearing."
The former doctor and software mogul argued that a series of controversies involving the state spy agency contributed little to improving the people's life and economy.
He was referring to the National Intelligence Service's alleged intervention in the 2012 presidential election in favor of then ruling party candidate Park, and other sensitive issues involving the agency, including its alleged fabrication of Chinese government documents involving an espionage case of a North Korean defector.
Commenting on Minister of Security and Public Administration Yoo Jeong-bok's decision to quit his position to run for mayor of Incheon, Ahn indicated that recruiting a sitting minister as a ruling party candidate is just to help the governing side secure key metropolitan positions, not to contribute to improving the public's living conditions.
Ahn then stressed that the opposition coalition will definitely keep its promises to the public and focus on working for the people.
The coalition is enjoying increased approval ratings in recent surveys in what is seen as a synergy effect created by the convergence of the different political forces.
A survey jointly conducted by pollster Hankook Research and daily newspaper Kyunghyang Shinmun showed that the governing camp garnered 39.9 percent support against the opposition coalition's 29.8 percent.
Before the coalition decision came, the DP and the Ahn camp each garnered about 10 percent support.
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