By Chung Min-uck
Rep. Lee Hae-chan, chairman of the main opposition Democratic United Party (DUP), on Tuesday dismissed the possibility of independent presidential candidate Ahn Cheol-soo winning the Dec. 19 presidential poll.
“No democratic state in the world has ever elected an independent candidate to run the country as president,” said Lee in a radio interview. “Governance by an independent president is an impossible scenario.”
While stressing the importance of fielding a single candidate from the liberal side, the DUP leader said that political parties are the core of modern politics and without them democratic politics are not possible.
“The democratic, reformist and progressive camp will field a unified candidate no matter what and that candidate must be a member of a party,” he added.
Observers say the remarks are aimed at hurting Ahn, a political newcomer, of his credibility to help Rep. Moon Jae-in, the DUP’s presidential candidate, to gain the upper hand in discussions over the envisioned union with Ahn.
Rep. Song Ho-chang on Tuesday defected from the DUP and joined Ahn’s camp.
It is the first time an incumbent lawmaker has teamed up with Ahn.
Speculation has been growing that Moon and Ahn are preparing to join hands in order to boost their chances of winning against Rep. Park Geun-hye, the ruling Saenuri Party’s presidential candidate.
Latest surveys show Ahn and Moon will lose to Park in a three-way race, whereas, they have a good chance of winning when the two merge into a single candidate.
Professor Kim Ho-ki, the head of the political reform section in Ahn’s election camp, on Monday said “talks for an Ahn-Moon alliance will begin later this month.”
Specific dates are yet to be decided.
Ahn earlier said depriving political parties of the right to nominate candidates in national elections is the key to political reform. The entrepreneur-turned-politician said that parties should “give the nomination right back to the public.”
Moon responded by saying “it is easy to say politics needs to change from outside the political party.” “To be real, new politics and reforms can only take place within the party.”
Meanwhile, the two candidates on Tuesday continued with their campaign tour.
Ahn delivered a keynote speech at the World Knowledge Forum held in eastern Seoul where he underscored closer ties with “northern economies” for the nation to make next leap forward.
The northern economies refer to countries like China and Russia that have considerable growth potential including North Korea.
Ahn stressed that northern economies can benefit South Korea's small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
“By building up the North’s logistics infrastructure, SMEs can gain access to more business opportunities, and at the same time help contribute to closer inter-Korean cooperation,” Ahn said.
Moon unveiled a five-year welfare plan aimed at creating jobs and stabilizing the economy. Moon earlier set up a separate committee under his campaign to handle relevant welfare pledges.