By Kang Hyun-kyung
The presidential campaign was mired in mudslinging Friday as aides of Rep. Park Geun-hye of the ruling Saenuri Party made fresh allegations against Ahn Cheol-soo, a software mogul-turned-candidate.
Polls have moved in favor of Ahn this week after he declared his presidential bid, making the Park camp uneasy as prospects for the daughter of the late President Park Chung-hee of winning the presidency are becoming less certain.
Senior members of the Saenuri Party opened fire against Ahn amid the surge in support for him.
Rep. Lee Hahn-koo, a floor leader of the party, alleged that Ahn had no intention to finish the election and would probably serve as a middleman to woo voters for Rep. Moon Jae-in of the main opposition Democratic United Party (DUP).
Rep. Lee Hahn-koo called Ahn a man having joined the presidential race to solicit voters for the DUP candidate and would soon withdraw his bid.
“I am suspicious of his motives,” Lee said during a meeting with ruling party members preparing for the annual National Assembly inspection.
“People doubt he is serious about his presidential bid as some speculate he will attract voters and encourage them to vote for the DUP candidate. I am afraid that he mocks the political party system. Is this what he dubbed clean politics?”
His criticism came after Ahn was critical of the dictatorial rule of the late former President Park Chung-hee, the father of Park Geun-hye.
Lee said Ahn was no different from any other politician as he strove to use “smear” campaign tactics.
“Ahn attracted voters (by sending a signal that he would run for the election) last year during the Seoul mayoral race and then called on his supporters to cast their ballot sheets for Park Won-soon, then an independent candidate. He is trying to use the same tactic in the presidential election.”
Last September, Ahn announced he would not run in the Seoul mayoral race and endorsed Park’s candidacy. At that time, Ahn was a frontrunner in polls and Park’s support was in single digits.
Ahn’s support for Park was a critical factor that made Park’s bid successful as the civic group activist’s ratings jumped afterwards.
The latest Real Meter poll found Ahn is ahead of Park in a hypothetical two-way race. Support for Ahn stood at nearly 50 percent, while Park’s rating was 44 percent.
Rep. Chung Woo-taik, a member of the Saenuri Party’s decision-making Supreme Council, downplayed the surge of support, predicting it will be short-lived.
Chung said the bubble will burst once the ruling and opposition parties kick off scrutinizing allegations about the former Seoul National University professor, especially if some of them are confirmed to be true.
Ahn has already faced allegations of bribery and of having an extramarital affair, which he said were false.
Park Sun-sook, a chief campaign strategist of the Ahn camp, said the ruling party appears to be insecure. She said the Ahn camp won’t respond to the negative campaign tactics.