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| Members of the New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) and civic groups attend a news conference at Gwangju City Council, Monday. They called for the resignations of five NPAD lawmakers who declared support for Yoon Jang-hyun as a candidate for Gwangju mayor. As Yoon was from Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo's camp, their support of Yoon led to conflict in the opposition coalition between Ahn's supporters and members of the now-defunct Democratic Party. / Yonhap |
By Jun Ji-hye
Internal conflict is brewing in the New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) between those from the now-defunct Democratic Party (DP) and supporters of Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo over which candidates should stand in the June 4 local elections.
The seeds of discontent between the two factions were sown when the two camps came together to form the NPAD early last month, with Ahn and Rep. Kim Han-gil, the former chairman of the DP, co-chairing the coalition.
Controversy arose after five lawmakers whose constituencies are in Gwangju declared on Sunday that they will support Yoon Jang-hyun, an NPAD hopeful running in the Gwangju mayoral election.
Yoon was from Ahn's camp ― he served as co-chairman on Ahn's preparatory committee then tasked with launching a new political party.
At a news conference, Reps. Kang Gi-jung, Kim Dong-cheol, Chang Byoung-wan, Park Hae-ja and Lim Nae-hyun said that they decided to back Yoon as the NPAD candidate for mayor.
Rep. Lee Yong-sup, who was a DP member, is also seeking to win a party ticket in the primary.
Lee immediately protested their announcement, saying: "This is unfair political collusion. Party leaders should clearly tell whether they had prior consultation with the five, as such a decision amounts to robbing citizens of the right to choose."
He added that if the party pushes to nominate Yoon as a candidate without conducting a fair primary, he could quit the party.
Rep. Park Joo-sun, a former independent lawmaker who recently joined the main opposition party, criticized the five for making an "unwise" announcement.
He said that inclusion of Park Hae-ja, a member of the party's Supreme Council, intensified suspicions that their announcement could have been made on instructions from the party leaders.
"If leaders including Ahn Cheol-soo and Kim Han-gil do not make it clear that they will not influence the primary, Rep. Lee and sitting Mayor Kang Un-tae could boycott the primary," he said. "Lawmakers can personally express their will to support a certain candidate, but it is improper to do that openly."
He added that the NPAD should remember that Gwangju is the place from where the nation's pro-democracy movement first emerged, and people there mostly support the DP.
Party leaders attempted to keep the dispute from exacerbating further.
Senior adviser Sohn Hak-kyu, co-chairman of the leading opposition party's campaign camp, said such an inappropriate declaration of support was ill-matched with the party's attempts to push for an innovative nomination process.
However, similar conflict is looming large among hopefuls for the Gyeonggi Province gubernatorial election where Kim Sang-gon, former superintendent of Gyeonggi Province Office of Education who is regarded as Ahn's aide, is confronting Reps. Kim Jin-pyo and Won Hye-young, former DP members, to be selected as a final candidate.
Kim Jin-pyo initially boycotted the primary, expressing his anger over the party's way of conducting it, which he believed worked favorably for Kim Sang-gon.
He returned to the race on Sunday, after the NPAD selected an alternative in which it will reflect 50 percent of a party poll and 50 percent of a public opinion poll.
Kim Sang-gon said he will accept his rule, although he also has some complaints.
Follow Jun Ji-hye on Twitter @TheKopJihye
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