Moon Jae-in, a lawmaker-elect for the main opposition Democratic United Party, recently wrote a tweet suggesting how burdened and frustrated he felt about obstacles to his presidential challenge.
The feeling was apparently exacerbated by the backlash against his alliance with two senior DUP members, which he had probably hoped would help lay the groundwork for his presidential bid.
In return for their support, Moon appeared to have promised to throw his weight behind Rep. Park Jie-won and former Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan in the contests for the posts of party floor leader and chairman.
Their alliance, which was expected to chart the course of the party, faced strong protests from other contenders, who denounced it as a backroom deal to divide up power among the three men.
Apart from making Moon bitter, such repercussions have brought vibrancy into the ongoing DUP leadership race, serving to pull the liberal opposition party out of its heavy mood following its loss to the conservative ruling Saenuri Party in last month’s parliamentary elections.
Lee, who won a parliamentary seat in a new constituency in the planned administrative capital of Sejong City in April, has fought a hard battle in regional primaries of the party leadership race, with another lawmaker-elect and former Culture Minister Kim Han-gil closely trailing him.
Lee and Moon, both of whom were close confidants to the late President Roh Moo-hyun, seem perplexed that some pro-Roh delegates have stood against them to support Kim. Behind the revolt, observers see, is South Gyeongsang Province Gov. Kim Doo-kwan, another former key aide to Roh who is preparing for his own presidential bid.
Earlier this month, Park defeated his rival contender by an unexpectedly narrow margin in party lawmakers’ vote to elect its floor leader.
These moves resisting the alliance among the three leaders is resulting in a heated and unpredictable leadership contest, which has drawn interest from the media and general public as well as party members.
The ongoing race also brings back the memory of Roh coming from behind to grab the nomination of the then-ruling New Millennium Party and going on to defeat his conservative rival Lee Hoi-chang in the 2002 presidential election.
The unfolding drama in the DUP leadership race has naturally unnerved many officials in the Saenuri Party, where the overwhelming influence of its presidential frontrunner Park Geun-hye has virtually barred any meaningful challenge against her.
The contrast would become more conspicuous if the opposition camp stages a fiercer contest to nominate its presidential candidate.
As shown in the DUP leadership race, the media and voters are inclined to pay more attention to a more dramatic competition, which would probably serve the rival candidate against Park more favorably in the lead-up to the Dec. 19 presidential election.
Election strategists for Park Geun-hye appear to be attempting to gain an upper hand by projecting the image of Park and her party focusing on solving matters related to bread-and-butter issues while the opposition is mired in an internal battle.
What they may prove to be missing is election dynamics. Any propaganda about good policies could lose its luster if Park’s overwhelming position bars any competition heated enough to attract voter interest.
In order not to repeat their bitter memory in 2002, Saenuri officials may feel an increasing need to give more room to Park’s rivals to mount a meaningful challenge by agreeing on an open primary, though not in its absolute form as requested by other contenders.
