The main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy’s former leader Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo has affectively called on the party chairman Moon Jae-in to step down.
Spurning Moon’s proposal to form a three-way alliance of Moon, himself, and Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon, Ahn proposed a plan of his own: Holding a party caucus in January to elect new leadership and merging with the People’s Reform Party, a new opposition party established by Rep. Chun Jung-bae who bolted from the NPAD early this year.
“More audacious and fundamental changes are necessary,” said Ahn during a press conference Sunday. As he envisions it, the January caucus would be a “reform convention” in which Moon would compete with challengers, including himself, for the party leadership. Moon said he regretted Ahn’s rejection of the three-way coalition proposal and that he would reach a decision after listening to party officials’ opinions.
No one disputes that the NPAD, riddled with internal power struggles, needs reform and needs it fast. Unless the party gets its act together, the main opposition party has little prospect of victory in April’s general election.
At the core of the NPAD’s problem is the protracted internecine struggle for dominance between the pro-Roh faction, named after the late President Roh Moo-hyun, and the regionally based Honam faction. The struggle has worsened since the party’s dismal performance in last April’s local elections and there have been incessant calls for a change in the party leadership. The pro-Roh faction led by Moon responded to Ahn’s proposal in a predictable manner, going so far as to condemn it as a “coup d’etat.” After all, Moon was elected as party chair in February for a two-year term.
The recent passing of former President Kim Young-sam has served as an occasion to remember how the opposition, as deeply divided as it was between longtime rivals — the late Kim Young-sam and the late Kim Dae-jung — nevertheless came rallying together when necessary. This was possible largely due to the leadership of the two larger-than-life Kims, the iconic leaders of Korea’s pro-democracy movement.
Unfortunately, such leadership is nowhere to be found in today’s opposition. Calls by various factions for party reform ring hollow in the ears of the people, who have heard the same talk over and over again without any concrete action being taken. People who have grown tired of the opposition’s failure to deliver know that the “reforms” that the different groups talk about are but thinly veiled attempts to wrestle power.
At a time when some argue that democracy in Korea is regressing, it is all the more crucial that the opposition plays its role of keeping the government and the ruling party in check. Its power greatly compromised by the factional squabbling, the opposition is hardly seen as a viable alternative.
The NPAD has scant time left to whip itself up as a true force for change before the April general election. If the opposition leaders fail to put aside the interests of their factions and join hands to form a credible opposition, history will hold them accountable for their failure to protect and further the cause of democracy in this country.
