[Editorial] Party’s bleak future

The main opposition party is set to change its name from the Democratic United Party back to its previous one, the Democratic Party, at its upcoming national convention on Saturday, which speaks volumes about the precarious state in which it is placed.

To reflect its of forging alliances with the Federation of Korean Trade Unions and progressive activist groups led by diehard supporters of former President Roh Moo-hyun, the main opposition changed its name in late 2011. The shift to the left was made ahead of the parliamentary elections in April the next year.

Though the move apparently helped the opposition party reduce the gap with the ruling party when it won 127 seats in the 300-member National Assembly, it proved to be one of the major setbacks in the presidential election in December. Now it is set to revert to its old name, taking a more moderate stance in policy, at the forthcoming national convention.

Under new leadership to be established in the national convention, the opposition party wishes to make a fresh start and endear itself to the electorate. But the outcome of recent opinion polls is nothing short of depressing. Its approval ratings are abysmally low, much lower than those of any party Ahn Cheol-soo, who won a parliamentary seat in a recent by-election in Seoul, may establish in the future.

If Ahn, who withdrew from the presidential race in support of the main opposition party’s candidate, creates a new party, 30.9 percent of the respondents to a survey conducted by the Korea Society Opinion Institute on April 28 said they would support it. The approval rating was slightly higher than that of the ruling Saenuri Party, though the gap was within the margin of error. The main opposition party, with a 9.6 percent approval rating, was well behind the ruling party.

Even more shocking to the opposition party is that it is discredited in its own stronghold ― in Honam, a region encompassing the metropolitan city of Gwangju and the two Jeolla provinces. A recent survey in Gwangju showed little difference between the approval ratings of the opposition party and Ahn’s party.

On being elected, the opposition party’s new leadership will have to bring together the two rival factions that are wide apart in ideology, ponder what is demanded of the party by the electorate, reset the course of action accordingly and prepare for a major test of its viability ― the gubernatorial and local elections set for June next year.