By Choi Ha-young
The minor liberal People’s Party and the minor conservative Bareun Party agreed Wednesday to create a new party after completing their merger as early as next month.
The agreement was made during the first meeting of the main negotiators from the two parties ― Reps. Jeong Woon-chun and Oh Shin-hwan from the Bareun Party and Reps. Lee Tae-kyu and Lee Un-ju from the People’s Party.
“We will create a new party, in which the lawmakers from the two parties will join, as well as those who desire reform and political change,” the joint statement reads. This indicates the new merged party will attract individuals who are not tied to the two major parties.
They also reaffirmed that they will do their best to complete the merger in February. To meet the deadline, the four negotiators will operate a bipartisan dialogue channel and report their progress once or twice a week, Rep. Lee Un-ju told reporters.
The bipartisan body is the end goal of the two minor parties. Since September last year, they have held 13 meetings to expand on common ground in policymaking and legislation. On Nov. 29, the parties came together in a legislative alliance for passing bills and negotiating budgets.
“For the past 100 days, 14 lawmakers from the People’s Party and nine lawmakers from the Bareun Party have expanded the two parties’ commonalities to fix our joint stance on the parliamentary audit and national security,” Rep. Jeong said ahead of the meeting Thursday.
“We will eradicate the hegemony of regionalism and ideology,” Rep. Lee Tae-kyu said.
The lawmakers highlighted the historic meaning of the envisioned merger ― putting an end to deep-rooted regionalism.
For decades, politics here have been dominated by liberals based in the southwestern Jeolla region and the conservatives based in the southeastern Gyeongsang region.
Between the two major parties with solid home turfs, centrist third parties have failed to survive in the National Assembly.
If their merger succeeds, this could be the first centrist party composed of lawmakers with diverse regional backgrounds.
People’s Party Chairman Ahn Cheol-soo has pursued centrism, while Bareun Party Chairman Yoo Seong-min is a four-term lawmaker from Daegu, the conservative heartland.
Rep. Oh, floor leader of the Bareun Party, said the envisioned party will be capable of resolving pressing issues. “We will boldly put forward ideas to overcome the low birthrate and security crisis,” Oh said.
Despite their pledges, concerns linger over the sustainability of the merged party. An anti-merger faction in the People’s Party has boycotted the bid citing their “incompatible” identities. As a short-term goal, the merged party aims at winning seats in the local elections slated for June.