Justice Party "Seeking Alliance with Third Forces like Labor and Green"
Yang Hyang-ja and Geum Tae-seop Accelerate New Party Formation Efforts
The Justice Party has declared a reestablishment through alliance and integration with third political forces. Following independent lawmaker Yang Hyang-ja and former lawmaker Geum Tae-seop, who previously announced the formation of new parties, the Justice Party is also joining the wave of new party formations ahead of next April's general election.
Attention is focused on whether the third zone can capture the hearts of centrist and non-affiliated voters who are fatigued by the two major parties, and what impact this will have on next year's general election.
On the 25th, Justice Party leader Lee Jeong-mi held a press conference at the National Assembly and announced plans for reestablishment, stating, "We will seek integration and alliance with various civil society groups and third political forces centered on labor and green political forces."
Lee Jung-mi, leader of the Justice Party, is holding a press conference on the morning of the 25th at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul. [Image source=Yonhap News]
She drew a line regarding the possibility of integration with the 'Geum Tae-seop and Yang Hyang-ja new parties.' Lee said, "Looking at their trajectories and the process of choosing their parties, I am quite skeptical about joining together," adding, "We cannot become one party just because we oppose the two major parties."
On the 26th, appearing on SBS Radio, Lee made it clear that she could not join hands with the so-called 'centrist new parties,' saying, "There seems to be no successful example of forming a party based on the centrist base."
She added, "What many people demand from the Justice Party is to clarify the party's identity a bit more and to present clear alternatives for society to move in a progressive direction," and said, "We will work to build trust as much as possible by engaging in activities that meet these demands."
The new party 'Hope of Korea,' led by lawmaker Yang Hyang-ja, will hold its founding initiators' meeting on the 26th. The Preparatory Committee for the Party Formation announced in the event notice a vision of "politics that the people desire, politics that leads the era, politics that dialogues without fighting, and politics that changes my life."
A total of 200 initiators are expected to attend the meeting. It is not known whether any incumbent lawmakers will join. However, in a media interview, lawmaker Yang stated that more than five incumbent lawmakers have shown interest in the new party formation.
Yang's new party is known to be unrelated to former lawmaker Geum Tae-seop's party formation efforts. Geum aims to establish his party around September. At a forum titled 'Reflection and Exploration for a Different Future' held at the National Assembly on the 13th, Geum drew a line on the possibility of alliance with Yang, saying, "We have a friendly relationship and occasionally meet, but I have not heard any specific details."
Geum added, "I will accelerate efforts to launch the party around September," and said, "I will strive to work with young people who can provide new perspectives and vitality to our politics, rather than existing politicians."
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