Conflict with big contenders undermines main opposition chief Lee's leadership

Lee Jun-seok, right, the chairperson of the conservative main opposition People Power Party, pins a party badge on former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl, a presidential contender who joined the party recently, at the National Assembly in Seoul, Aug. 2. Yonhap

By Kwon Mee-yoo

Lee Jun-seok, the youngest leader ever of the conservative main opposition People Power Party (PPP), was seen as a sign of change in the conservative party when he took the post in June. However, the strength of his leadership is now in question after only two months, as the big-name presidential contenders of the party are not following the party's campaign trail activities, but rather organizing their own.

The party's committee in charge of the primary organized a volunteer activity at a low-income neighborhood near Seoul Station on Aug. 4, where all 13 presidential hopefuls of the party were supposed to participate. But four of the biggest names ― former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl, former Board of Audit and Inspection Chairman Choe Jae-hyeong, Rep. Hong Joon-pyo and former four-term lawmaker Yoo Seong-min ― skipped the event citing personal reasons.

It was the first official event organized by the committee, but without the major contenders, the event lost steam.

Lee voiced his discomfort with those who missed the event, saying nothing should be more important than the first official event commencing the party's primary.

While Yoon's official camp remained silent, Rep. Chung Jin-suk, who is close to Yoon, posted on Facebook, Friday, that the protagonists of the primary are the contenders, not the party's leadership, expressing discomfort with the party leader's reaction.

Chung also criticized the party leader for treating all the contenders equally, when each has different weights, and asked him to support them, not to control them. "Anchovies, mackerel and dolphins have different growth conditions, and each has to get nourishment from the environment in which they can grow the most," Chung said, implying that Yoon is the dolphin and that the others are the mackerel and anchovies.

Lee refuted Chung's comment, saying that both dolphins and anchovies are the presidential contenders of the PPP and that he has to protect all of them as the leader of the party. He also criticized Chung for comparing the other candidates to anchovies.

It was even suspected that Yoon's aides had urged the other contenders not to participate in the volunteer activity, which Yoon's side denied.

The battle of nerves between Lee and Yoon, who is the leading conservative opposition contender in public opinion polls, began when Yoon joined the PPP on July 30 while Lee was visiting South Jeolla Province and floor leader Kim Gi-hyeon was on vacation ― unusual timing for the much-awaited move.

Lee is also struggling as the merger with the moderate conservative minor opposition People's Party, headed by Ahn Cheol-soo, is not going as smoothly as expected. The two opposition parties have been in merger talks for about two months, but they haven't reached an agreement yet, with the start of the PPP primary less than a month away.

To speed up the process, Lee made a move at the end of July, saying that he is going on vacation in the second week of August and that the People's Party should make a decision about the merger before then.

However, it backfired and the People's Party reacted against Lee's domineering attitude, saying that he is not showing respect or a sincere interest in working together.

If the two parties fail to merge and field a single candidate from the conservative opposition bloc, that will harm Lee's reputation, as he has claimed to have confidence in the strength of a unified conservative opposition bloc.