People's Party 'Mass Defection' Crisis
Kim Sam-hwa, Kim Su-min, Shin Yong-hyun Contemplate Joining Future United Party
Realmeter Poll Shows 1.2% Support Rate
[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] The People’s Party is facing its greatest crisis just five days after the establishment of its central party. As the 4.15 general election landscape is reshaped into a contest between the Democratic Party of Korea and the United Future Party, a mass defection is occurring within the People’s Party. Although Ahn Cheol-soo, the leader of the People’s Party, is drawing a line against the anti-Moon Jae-in coalition, concerns are rising that the party may be left as a mere shell as key figures within the party are choosing to join the United Future Party in large numbers.
A source from the People’s Party told Asia Economy on the 27th, “We understand that Leader Ahn is not considering integration or coalition with the United Future Party,” adding, “We are just leaving.” With Ahn maintaining an independent course, further defections of People’s Party lawmakers and out-of-parliament committee heads are expected to accelerate. Jang Hwan-jin, a prominent out-of-parliament figure from the Ahn Cheol-soo faction and vice chairman of the People’s Party Founding Preparation Committee’s Executive Committee, declared his joining of the United Future Party the day before. Lawmakers Kim Sam-hwa, Kim Soo-min, Shin Yong-hyun, and Kim Cheol-geun, the public relations director of the People’s Party Founding Preparation Committee, are also contemplating moving to the United Future Party.
The exodus from the People’s Party has been partly influenced by the party’s declining approval ratings ahead of the general election. According to a survey conducted by Realmeter on behalf of YTN from the 25th to 26th, targeting 1,514 voters aged 18 and over nationwide (response rate 5.2%, margin of error ±2.5 percentage points at a 95% confidence level), the People’s Party’s approval rating dropped 1.1 percentage points from the previous week to 1.2%. This figure is lower than that of the Justice Party (4.3%), the Minsaeng Party (3.8%), and the Liberty Party (1.6%). For more details, refer to the Central Election Poll Deliberation Commission website.
Leader Ahn recently expressed skepticism about the polling results and asserted the People’s Party’s potential for success. On the 26th, he cited a poll commissioned by the Korea Economic Daily to Ipsos on Facebook, stating, “8.8% of the public said they would give proportional representation votes to the People’s Party, and 6.7% said they would give constituency votes. In contrast, Realmeter’s poll showed 2.3%. Many people are curious about why there is nearly a fourfold difference in approval ratings.” He criticized, “Unfortunately, Realmeter is not free from accusations of fairness issues. I believe there is electioneering disguised as polling in our country.”
In political circles, there are also remarks that Ahn’s recent situation overlaps with that of former Bareunmirae Party leader Sohn Hak-kyu. The reason why even the party leadership faction lawmakers left the Bareunmirae Party was largely due to the party’s low approval ratings.
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