Minor left-wing parties unite for election

Three minor left-wing parties have merged to form a new progressive party to increase their chance of winning more seats in next year’s general election.

The leaders of the Democratic Labor Party, the People’s Participation Party and an offshoot of the New Progressive Party resolved to create the new Unified Progressive Party on Monday.

The group officially separated itself from mainstream consolidation efforts led by the main opposition Democratic Party and the political activists’ group Integration and Innovation.

The new party’s chairmanship is to be jointly held by the three leaders ― the DLP’s Lee Jung-hee, the PPP’s Rhyu Si-min and the PNP group’s Sim Sang-jeong. Its headquarters will be located within the DLP’s former office in Yeouido.

The merger process will be completed at the party’s inauguration convention slated for mid-January, according to officials.

Also, those who aspire to run in the April 11 general elections may start registering as the UPP’s backup candidates from next Tuesday.

The new party currently holds seven parliamentary seats and hopes to increase the number to at least 20, the minimum for a party to form a floor negotiation group in the assembly.

The UPP hinted that it may consider forming an alliance with the DP-led group in the upcoming elections, but said a fundamental inter-party integration is unlikely, despite the DP’s earlier efforts to unite the entire left-wing camp.

Opposition parties have engaged in unity talks this year, particularly after the Oct. 26 Seoul mayoral by-election in which the DP-backed independent Park Won-soon defeated ruling Grand National Party nominess Na Kyung-won.

By Bae Hyun-jung (tellme@heraldcorp.com)