Ahn thanks Jeolla region for overwhelming support

Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo, co-chairman of the minority opposition People’s Party, speaks to reporters during a visit to the May 18th National Cemetery in Gwangju, Sunday. Ahn thanked voters in the Jeolla region for their overwhelming support in the general election. / Yonhap

By Kim Hyo-jin

Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo, co-chairman of the splinter opposition People’s Party, visited the southwest Jeolla provinces, Sunday, and thanked voters for their overwhelming support of the party in Wednesday’s general election.

The People’s Party emerged as a strong third party, winning 23 out of 28 seats up for grabs in the region. It won 38 of 300 parliamentary seats, which was much higher than expected.

The result provided a springboard for Ahn to increase his political influence, with the party now holding a “casting vote” between the two major parties _ the ruling Saenuri Party and the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea (MPK).

It was Ahn’s first visit to the region after the election.

Observers view that the attention to the region will continue in the run-up to the 2017 presidential election while both the MPK and the People’s Party are competing to attract voters of the tradition opposition stronghold.

“We are determined to change the government. Voters gave us an opportunity with their overwhelming support,” Ahn said after paying tribute at the May 18th National Cemetery in Gwangju.

“We’ll lead the legislature, rather than remaining as a casting vote,” he said, underlining the three-party system will bring a change in the assembly deadlocked by partisan wrangling.

Ahn raised his voice against the possibility of forming an alliance with the MPK during the 2017 presidential race, saying, “It will be rude to the public if we only care about political interest. The priority is showing a productive party mechanism in the Assembly.”

“The strong support of Jeolla voters cleared Ahn a path toward the presidential bid. He is expected to form his own political vision,” Lee Jun-han, a professor at Incheon National University, said.