People Power Party and People Party Opposition Merger Delayed Until After June

Kwon Eun-hee "Informed It's Difficult Before Electing New People Power Party Leadership"
Lee Tae-gyu "Understand Internal Opinions Differ on Timing of People Power Party Unification"

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] The timing of the merger between the People Power Party and the People Party appears to be postponed until after the People Power Party's party convention in early June. Key officials of the People Party expect merger discussions to proceed after the election of the new leadership of the People Power Party.

Ahn Cheol-soo, leader of the People’s Party, is attending the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the 15th and looking at Kwon Eun-hee, floor leader, after finishing his speech. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

On the 7th, Kwon Eun-hee, floor leader of the People Party, appeared on KBS Radio's "Choi Kyung-young's Strong Current Affairs" and stated, "Given the realistic situation of the People Power Party, I was informed that it is difficult to proceed with the merger unless the leadership is elected through the party convention now." On the same day, Lee Tae-gyu, secretary-general of the People Party, appeared on BBS Radio's "Park Kyung-soo's Morning Journal" and said, "I understand that there is no internal consensus within the People Power Party regarding the timing of the merger before or after the party convention," adding, "Naturally, merger discussions will take place after the new leadership of the People Power Party is elected following the party convention."

Both reaffirmed that there is no disagreement regarding the direction of the merger between the two parties. They emphasized the integration of values as a key issue in the merger. Floor leader Kwon mentioned, "From the People Party's standpoint, the timing is not the most important; what matters is a principled integration that reflects the opinions of party members, and an integration that allows the coexistence of conservative and centrist values." Secretary-general Lee also said, "The People Party is fully prepared for the merger," adding, "The unified opposition party should have the expansiveness of a centrist pragmatic party and become more innovative so that when the public chooses the opposition party to replace the government, it is not a lesser evil to avoid the worst but a better choice for the future. Creating such a party is the task of the merger."

Meanwhile, both also made remarks leaving open the possibility of People Party leader Ahn Cheol-soo running for president. Secretary-general Lee said, "Personally, I wonder if the opposition primary would be successful without Leader Ahn," adding, "The top 1 to 3 opposition presidential candidates are all outside. If any one of them drops out, I think the excitement will decline."

Floor leader Kwon also said, "The opposition candidates are in a position to be chosen by the public by making efforts and contributions toward opposition unity and expanding their support base through showing a changed image," adding, "Leader Ahn is also in that situation based on such recognition."

Leader Ahn had declared he would not run for president when he challenged the April 7 Seoul mayoral by-election.