Further delay may rob him of candidacy chance

With only six months remaining before the Dec. 19 presidential election, the view across the political landscape remains foggy. This is attributed in part to Ahn Cheol-soo, a potential frontrunner for the liberals, who is still declining to say whether or not he will run.

Critics fear that his failure to make a decision may make the forthcoming presidential poll the worst ever because of the shortage of time needed to verify the qualifications and pledges of candidates.

Lee Hae-chan, chairman of the main opposition Democratic United Party (DUP), told a radio show Monday that it is already late in the day even if the information technology mogul-turned-professor decides to throw his hat into the ring.

Ahn, 50, is almost certain to enter the presidential race. One of the chief hurdles stopping him from announcing his candidacy will soon be cleared once the dean of the Graduate School of Convergence Science and Technology at Seoul National University wraps up his lectures for the semester next week.

Ahn is said to be busy making preparations, based on the assumption that he will run for the presidency. On the one hand, he is putting the finishing touches to a book of essays that will highlight his political agenda of ``justice, welfare and peace’’ in a bid to publish it next month. On the other, he is meeting with specialists including professors. Some of his confidants have been contacting politicians.

The DUP, which had shown unswerving sympathy for Ahn, is becoming cold towards him as any clarification on his possible candidacy continues to be delayed.

It’s understandable that the liberal party is nervous about Ahn, who showed ample political influence in the Seoul mayoral by-election last October. At the time, Ahn merely voiced support for Park Won-soon, an anti-government independent candidate, and Park was elected. In contrast, the DUP failed to field its own candidate in the mayoral election after being defeated in a primary.

The DUP has two options regarding Ahn. One is to have him take part in a ``one-shot’’ primary to be participated in by all candidates and the other is to let Ahn compete against its own candidate who will be chosen at its intraparty primary to select a single person who will take on the ruling Saenuri Party’s choice. The main opposition party is in favor of the former.

It’s up to Ahn as to whether or not he will enter the presidential race but timing is an important factor in politics. In this respect, he may be letting his opportunity slip by. It would be disappointing if he is delaying his candidacy to avoid the verification process as some critics suggest.

If he continues to hesitate, he might fizzle out like Park Chan-jong, who dropped out of the 15th-term presidential race in 1997 during the process of verification, after leading in the opinion polls.