Proud of Lee Junseok Completing the Race with 2.9 Million Votes
Warns, "The Conservative Ice Age Will Last Even Longer If They Don't Wake Up"
Cheon Haram, acting leader and floor leader of the Reform New Party, assessed the results of the recent presidential election by saying, "Although there is much regret, it was a meaningful challenge for the growth and strengthening of the party's identity."
On June 6, appearing on KBS1 Radio's "Jeonggyeok Sisa," Cheon described Lee Junseok's completion of the race, earning 2.9 million votes, as "a proud choice that upheld political principles." He diagnosed that "the psychology of preventing wasted votes, controversies over TV debates, and the party's low recognition all acted as limiting factors." Regarding the TV debate controversy, he said, "In the end, it did not help," adding, "The upward momentum was halted, and the subsequent recovery was suppressed by the late-stage psychology of preventing wasted votes."
He further evaluated, "Our party was still too weak to fully support candidate Lee Junseok." "It's not simply a matter of organization and manpower; there are still many points where the public is confused about what the basic stance of the Reform New Party is," he noted. "As we tried to present many distinctive policies, the public may have questioned whether the Reform New Party was sufficiently prepared, and this may have worked to reduce Lee Junseok's personal competitiveness," he added.
Nevertheless, he emphasized, "The fact that we refused unification proposals until the end and stuck to our principles will become an asset for the Reform New Party in the future." Regarding reactions such as, "How can you be so proud after losing the election?" he replied, "We are genuinely proud. We did not break our promises, and even though we received unification offers from all sides at the last minute, we overcame those temptations and stuck to our principles and convictions."
Lee Junseok, a member of the Reform New Party, appealing for support during the presidential election.
Cheon took a firm stance on the issue of responsibility for the conservative defeat, which is being raised due to Lee Junseok's failure to unify candidacies. He said, "The reason the People Power Party cannot push this argument strongly is because they all knew that the prospect of unification disappeared the moment Kim Moonsoo became the candidate." He explained, "If a candidate who clearly opposed the emergency martial law, supported impeachment, and tried to clearly distance himself from former President Yoon Sukyeol had become the People Power Party candidate, there would have been even greater pressure for unification. However, behind Kim Moonsoo were people like former President Yoon Sukyeol, former Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, and Pastor Jeon Kwang-hoon. It is impossible for candidate Lee Junseok to form a united team with them," he drew a clear line.
He also pointed out, "It's not as if the People Power Party has a monopoly on public support," and criticized, "The unification pressure from the two major parties is a vested-interest frame that blocks the expansion of new parties."
Regarding the strong performance of People Power Party candidate Kim Moonsoo, he evaluated, "It does not appear to have been achieved on his own." He said, "I believe most of it was due to antipathy and unfavorable perceptions toward Lee Jaemyung, the current president (then candidate)." He warned, "If the entire conservative camp does not come to its senses, as former Daegu mayor Hong Joonpyo said, a long winter will continue for a very long time."
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