Opposition seeks ideological shift
Members of the main opposition Democratic United Party make a deep bow to apologize to the public for defeat in the Dec. 19 presidential election during a visit to the National Cemetery in Seoul, Monday. / Yonhap
By Chung Min-uck
The main opposition Democratic United Party (DUP) is seeking to shift its policy line to a moderate one in a desperate attempt to move forward from last month’s presidential election defeat.
“Extremism should be eradicated from the party,” said Rep. Kim Dong-cheol, who was elected a member of the emergency leadership committee, in a radio interview, Monday. “It is undisputable that democratization of economy and universal welfare are key agendas we should follow. But it is not right to take on the same progressive stance in diplomacy and defense issues.”
The reformist three-term lawmaker went on to blame his party’s pro-Roh Moo-hyun faction for vowing to scrap the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) deal with the United States during the April general elections.
“The pro-Roh faction’s move to put off the FTA in an indiscreet manner wasn’t in line with people’s average standard,” Kim added.
These criticisms come as the adoption of far-left policies by the mainstream pro-Roh faction since the general elections’ campaigning is considered one of the main causes of the party’s electoral defeat.
Reformist DUP members argue such a policy stance pitched out elderly voters in their 50s and above, and moderate voters in supporting the party.
The DUP’s former presidential hopeful Moon Jae-in was defeated by ruling Saenuri Party standard bearer Park Geun-hye by a little over 1.08 million votes. It soon triggered internal disputes as rival factions blamed each other for the defeat and scrambled to take control.
Replacing the former pro-Roh leadership figures who resigned en masse after the election loss, the DUP on Sunday picked seven current members to join the interim leadership committee.
All the members, including Rep. Kim, were either reformist members or hold moderate policy stances. Pro-Roh figures were excluded in the selection.
The newly-appointed members, along with Rep. Moon Hee-sang, the party's emergency interim leader, and floor leader Park Ki-choon, will move to stabilize the party that has been reeling from the defeat in the presidential poll on Dec. 19.
The committee will take the helm of the party until a national convention is held to pick new leaders. It will focus on evaluating the presidential election, set up policies to push forward political reforms and deal with other administrative and parliamentary matters.
“The party should be changed from scratch,” said Moon Byeong-ho, another reformist emergency committee member, in a radio interview, Monday. “The dichotomy between democracy and dictatorship is not worth it anymore.”
“The old confrontation between conservative and progressive would be ousted from the political scene,” said Rep. An Min-suk, a reformist DUP member, Monday. “We should break away from the old ideological battle.”
Observers say internal conflict over policy line would be inevitable within the DUP as the mainstreamers are expected to resist the reformists’ move to change the policy direction of the party.