Roh Supporters Plan to Create New Party
By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff Reporter
About 1,600 supporters of the late President Roh Moo-hyun announced plans Monday to create a new party by the year's end, in a move that indicates a split in the liberal camp is unavoidable.
Political analysts say the move will deal a blow to the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) as pro-Roh figures, who participated in the initiative portrayed themselves as authentic advocates of the former liberal President.
The DP didn't respond to the announcement.
But a DP lawmaker said on condition of anonymity that as more Roh supporters join the new party initiative, it will be hard for them to avoid criticism that they are responsible for the split.
Political observers say the new party will probably lead to a division in the opposition camp and, as a consequence, the DP will suffer in the local elections next year.
In an effort to justify the creation of the new party, the Roh supporters criticized the DP, saying it has failed to meet the rising demands that it become a participation-oriented party.
Among those joining the initiative are former lawmakers Kang Hye-sook and Kim Young-dae, former Presidential chief of staff Lee Byung-wan and former Presidential spokesman Chun Ho-seon.
Claiming that people have seen the consequences of poor political leadership in person since conservative President Lee Myung-bak took office one-and-a-half-years ago, supporters of Roh said people want someone like themselves to correct the bad practices.
The pro-Roh figures also addressed the issue of achieving participation and ending parochial regionalism as two major tasks on which to focus.
Political analysts say the creation of a new liberal party will definitely have a negative effect on the DP.
But they said it is too early to know how it will affect the main opposition party in the elections, mainly because how much support the pro-Roh figures will garner remains unknown.