Ahn starts to expand political force

By Jun Ji-hye

Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo

Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo has started to gather talented people with an eye on by-elections scheduled for October. His moves are seen as preparatory steps toward setting up a new party, analysts said.

“I will seek proper figures and make a challenge at the next by-elections. Looking for the right people is a more significant and urgent task than setting up a political party. So I will try hard to find and recruit them,” Ahn told reporters, Monday.

It is the first time that the brand new politician has suggested a plan in detail since he returned home in March after his three-month residence in the United States.

The independent lawmaker outlined the qualities he’s looking for in people, “They will have to lay emphasis on working for the nation, not for personal interest. They need to have the desire to play a big role in reforming the nation’s political structure.”

He stressed that those who share critical thinking regarding difficulties the nation faces will have priority, rather than those who come to him after failing to be nominated by the ruling Saenuri Party or the main opposition Democratic Party (DP).

Analysts said Tuesday that Ahn seems to be taking a step in the right direction.

“It remains to be seen by how much his move will influence the political scene. However, in my opinion, he is stepping forward in the right way because he put the highest priority on selecting appropriate figures before creating a new party,” said Chung Goon-gi, a political analyst and a professor at the Journalism and Media Department of Kyonggi University.

Chung said that many figures historically went down after launching new parties without any preparation or definite objective.

“In this regard, Ahn seemed to understand the dynamics of politics well,” Chung said.

Parties are paying keen attention to Ahn’s comments because the October by-elections will decide more than 10 parliamentary seats.

The ruling party with 154 seats in the National Assembly will contest whether they can maintain the majority in the next by-elections. As this could possibly be further threatened by Ahn’s move, party members have attempted to devalue Ahn’s plan to consolidate his own power base.

“Ahn is the only figure able to make the Ahn sensation feasible. Although many public expected great things from him, he has not shown that much so far,” said Rep. Choi Kyung-hwan.

The DP also has reason to be concerned because a recent survey showed that if Ahn establishes a new party it would have higher approval ratings than the DP. Its members stressed building close relations with Ahn.

“Ahn and the DP sometimes need to cooperate and unite together as well as compete, depending on circumstances,” said Rep. Cho Kyoung-tae.

Rep. Woo Yoon-keun said how the DP and Ahn will establish a relationship completely depends on what the DP does.

“If we do well, we could keep a cooperative relationship with Ahn. If we go wrong, the situation will change,” he said.