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| Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo, a former co-chairman of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD), is surrounded by reporters as he leaves the National Assembly after announcing his departure from the party, Sunday. He suggested that he will create a new left-wing party that could put forward a candidate capable of winning the presidential election in late 2017. / Korea Times photo by Oh Dae-geun |
Some 30 members expected to leave main opposition
By Yi Whan-woo
Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo, a co-founder of the New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD), announced Sunday that he has quit the party, putting the country's main opposition on the verge of breaking up.
Ahn's aides said that approximately 30 other NPAD lawmakers will also leave the party in a few weeks.
Ahn indicated that he will create a new liberal party capable of winning the presidential election in 2017, saying that it is impossible for the NPAD to achieve this goal. He may found a new party ahead of the general elections scheduled for April next year.
Ahn's resignation came after he failed with NPAD Chairman Moon Jae-in to reach an agreement on leadership change.
Moon, who had been in a power struggle with Ahn, is expected to face mounting calls to reform the party. The two political bigwigs, regarded as among potential liberal candidates for the next presidential race, have been at odds over how to prepare for the upcoming parliamentary elections.
"I concluded that change and innovation is impossible in this party and therefore I'm leaving the party as of today," Ahn said during a press conference at the National Assembly.
Ahn, an entrepreneur-turned-politician, claimed he has devoted himself to unity in the opposition since entering the political arena in 2011.
"There's a slim chance of winning the 2016 general elections and also achieving a change of government if the party goes on like this," he said.
"I offer my sincere apologies and hold myself accountable for a lack of competence that resulted in making the party so hopeless. The party now needs an external shock to change and that's what I'm trying to do."
According to Ahn, Moon failed to come up with convincing measures to reform the party. The NPAD chairman visited Ahn's home in Seoul in a desperate bid to block him from leaving the party, only to receive a cold shoulder.
In a Facebook post later on Sunday, Moon said, "I really hate being in politics today and feel totally exhausted."
However, he said the NPAD will "not stop and continue to sail" to victory in the upcoming general elections.
Up to 30 NPAD lawmakers will leave and join Ahn by the end of this year, according to Ahn's chief secretary Rep. Moon Byeong-ho.
The 30 possible deserters, including Moon Byeong-ho, You Sung-yop, Hwang Ju-hong, are outside of the mainstream of the NPAD.
Their constituencies vary from Seoul to the NPAD's home turf in the southwestern Honam region.
They can form a parliamentary negotiation bloc, which must consist of at least 20 legislators. They also can create a new party or join minor opposition parties in the April elections against the NPAD, which is now dominated by Moon Jae-in's loyalists.
Ahn's announcement came after a ping-pong debate between him and Moon Jae-in over how to reform the party's leadership that began last month.
The NPAD chairman insisted on forming a joint leadership among him, Moon and Park, who is also seen as a potential contender for the 2017 presidential election.
Instead, Ahn made a counter-proposal to choose a new leadership at a caucus, saying Moon Jae-in's idea cannot revive the party ahead of the general election.
Ahn served as co-chair of the NPAD with Rep. Kim Han-gil from March to July last year after joining the Democratic Party, the NPAD's predecessor.
Both Ahn and Kim stepped down from their chairmanship after the party suffered a crushing defeat in the July 2014 by-elections.
Shin Yul, a political professor at Myongji University, said it remains to be seen whether Kim, a four-term-lawmaker, will join Ahn.
"Kim has a number of followers in the NPAD and his possible support is expected to be a big help for Ahn," he said.
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