By Jun Ji-hye
Work started Monday on the merger of two opposition groups amid a mixed sense of anticipation and skepticism.
Three members each from the leading opposition Democratic Party (DP) and Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo’s supporters formed a task force for a coalition to compete against the ruling Saenuri Party in the June 4 local elections.
The move came a day after the two’s surprise merger announcement, which was widely seen as an inevitable result of a sense of crisis felt by both sides.
The DP needs fresh blood to improve its standing with the public, which it hopes Ahn will provide, while the latter needs a base to rely on to achieve political critical mass.
Choi Jae-cheon, the DP’s chief of strategy and public relations, said, “The same number of members from the two sides will work together to create a new party, and once launched, this party and the DP will merge.”
The two sides agreed to work out details by the end of the month.
One of Ahn’s aides captured the pros and cons of the alliance, when he quoted an old Korean saying ― “One has to go into the cave of a tiger to catch it.”
The main inference from his words is that Ahn is joining forces with the DP at the risk of being absorbed by the main opposition. Ahn has on a number of occasions polled better than the DP but he has enlisted only one other incumbent lawmaker, compared with the DP’s 126 seats.
From the DP’s point of view, the deal with Ahn offers little to lose.
Following the agreement for the coalition, Ahn’s earlier plan to create his own party, dubbed the New Political Vision Party, within this month has been put on hold.
The two sides are expected to go through the difficult task of negotiations before coming up with details of the new party’s platform and policy.
Some DP members have argued that the one-on-one merger is inappropriate, while Ahn’s aides say that they should abandon their sense of entitlement.
“Ahn does not have sufficient human resources. I believe that he won’t insist on having the same number of candidates and seats,” said DP senior lawmaker Park Jie-won.
In response, Rep. Song Ho-chang, Ahn’s long time confidant, said the DP needs to see which side receives more of a public welcome, rather than counting the number of seats.
“The DP will be able to recover the public trust only after it shows the will to give up various privileges,” said Song.