[Editorial] Future of opposition

Moon Jae-in’s announcement that he will step down as head of the main opposition party if the party does not endorse reform proposals drawn up by an independent panel was yet another blunder by the already troubled leader.

It was evident that by staking his seat on the endorsement of the proposals by the Central Committee -- which is very likely because he has a firm control over it as the party leader and head of the mainstream faction -- he was seeking to put an end to his opponents’ consistent pressure on him to resign.

Faced with strong opposition, Moon, who had originally suggested a vote of confidence after the Central Committee meeting slated for next Wednesday, conceded to holding the vote between Sunday and Tuesday.

The vote will consist of a telephone survey of the party’s rank and file members and a separate opinion poll of nonparty members. The party spokesman said Moon will step down if he fails to earn enough votes in either poll. 

This also raises a question: Why are they suggesting that they include an opinion poll of nonparty members in the vote? Moon is the head of a political party, and therefore his leadership as the party leader may well be judged by members of the party, not the general public. 

Sensible or not, the vote of confidence is unlikely to appease Moon’s opponents, who argue that any such decision be made by the party’s national convention. Their argument is based on the fact that the party elects its leader at the national convention, and thus whether to give him confidence or not should be determined by the convention.

Logic aside, the positon of the two sides are obvious: Moon is saying that the party should embrace the reform proposals and that he should hold on to his job as leader of the party. Moon’s opponents are demanding that he step down, without any strings attached, to pave the way for a new leadership.

As things stand, the party reforms, which Moon initiated with a call to heal the party’s notorious internal factional strife and restore public trust after its devastating election defeat, is only widening schisms in the party.

It is partly because minority factions in the party suspect – with solid grounds -- that many of the proposals -- a total of 10 packages, including one on how to nominate candidates for elections -- are geared to favor Moon and his faction’s members.

Former party cochairmen Ahn Cheol-soo and Kim Han-gil have already called the reform proposals a failure, and one senior member after another is bolting from the party, accusing Moon and his associates of running the party in a way that protects their own political interests. 

Some of the defectors -- like former Justice Minister Chun Jung-bae and former South Jeolla Province Gov. Park Joon-yung are already moving to create new opposition parties. 

One can see the party is on the brink of a breakup. All these things have been happening during the seven months since Moon was elected leader of the largest opposition party.

It would have been better had Moon offered to resign or call a vote of confidence in April when the party suffered a humiliating defeat in the by-elections. Now what is evident is that regardless of the result of the vote of confidence, the party will have to wade through the mud for long as usual.