Park Jie-won wants to head People's Party

Lawmaker wants to head People’s Party

By Jun Ji-hye

Rep. Park Jie-won

Rep. Park Jie-won hinted Tuesday that he will run for the chairmanship of the minor opposition People’s Party.

The party, co-headed by Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo and Rep. Chun Jung-bae, is expected to hold a convention in July or August to pick its new chairman and members of the decision-making Supreme Council.

Park, who was a key aide to the late President Kim Dae-jung, also left open the possibility of joining the presidential race next year.

Park quit the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea (MPK) in January and joined the People’s Party in early March. He won a fourth term in Mokpo, South Jeolla Province, in the general election last week.

During a radio interview, Park said he is not interested in becoming the party’s floor leader, a position he was reportedly asked to assume after the general election.

During campaigning, he told voters he will challenge for either the party chairmanship or the presidency on behalf of Gwangju and the Jeolla provinces (colloquially known as Honam).

“Support from the Honam region is essential for an opposition party,” he said during the interview. “We should pave the way to unite the opposition parties and change the government. I will work for that.”

The People’s Party secured 25 of 28 seats that were up for grabs in the Honam region.

Under party rules, it needs to hold a national convention no later than Aug. 2 to elect a new chairman. And those who want to join the presidential race should step down from any party position a year before the presidential poll, scheduled for December next year.

This means that even if Rep. Ahn, a presidential hopeful, is elected chairman at the national convention, he must step down by December this year if he wants to run for president.

Ahn’s aides now claim that the party rules should be changed to help Ahn contest the presidency as chairman.

They say Ahn played a leading role in the party’s success in the general election.

Lee Sang-don, a lawmaker-elect and former co-chairman of the election planning committee of the People’s Party, said: “Presidential hopefuls generally announce their official bids around July, some five months before the presidential poll. So, the party constitution should be modified so that they should step down from elective office of the party six months, not a year, before the poll.”

For his part, Ahn said: “A person cannot serve as a party chairman and presidential candidate at the same time, if a year is left to go before the presidential election.”

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