Kim Chong-in, a veteran politician who joined the party to lead its election campaign, was made interim leader of the main opposition United Future Party during a party meeting Friday.
The development comes amid objection from conservative heavyweights who raised concerns over granting Kim excessive authority, as the party struggles to restore itself after a crushing defeat in the general election.
After days of conflict on the how much power to give Kim, the party and the economist-turned-politician reached a consensus on Friday to launch an interim leadership headed by him.
Kim had insisted he would not accept the party’s invitation to take over the interim leadership unless granted unlimited time to serve and authority that essentially is not subject to the party’s constitution and rules.
“Based on opinion gathered among party members and the supreme council about the future of the party, an official request was made to Kim to serve as interim leader, which he accepted,” said Shim Jae-cheol, main opposition’s acting chairman and floor leader, after the party’s supreme council meeting, Friday.
“Regarding the national convention, we will temporarily change additional clauses in the rules on interim leadership stated in the original party rules to be applied. To do so we will work on revising the party constitution and rules.”
The United Future Party will convene its standing committee and national committee next week to officialize the temporary leadership.
With the party moving to meet the terms set forth by Kim, internal strife within the party is expected to deepen, as conservative heavyweights risk losing their standing within the party.
According to party rules, the interim party’s leadership will end once a national convention to elect a new leadership is held, at the latest by Aug. 31.
But the revision of party rules would allow the postponement of the national convention “until the party is thought to be normalized,” paving the way for Kim to lead the party beyond the initial time frame.
Shim did not offer a timeline, saying “there are many opinions, such as the end of August, the end of December and until the presidential election. But I think a decision will be made reasonably.”
Rep. Cho Kyoung-tae, a four-term lawmaker of the United Future Party and the only member of the party’s existing leadership elected to the 21st National Assembly, immediately criticized the party’s move on the grounds that discussions on the transition to emergency mode were “anti-democratic.”
“I am opposed to launching an interim party leadership whose authority lies above the party constitution and rules without even fixing a term.”
He added the party should gather thoughts of elected lawmakers rather than convene the national committee.
Yoo Seong-min of the conservative party, who once led the minor conservative Bareunmirae Party, also took issue with the way Shim handled the issue.
“Floor leader Shim Jae-cheol asked members to choose between an interim leadership and an early national convention over the phone. The method itself was not right,” Yoo said during a television debate.
“If we search for a path after understanding why we lost, we’ll easily be able to find an answer on whether to go into emergency mode or hold a national convention.”
Political heavyweight Hong Joon-pyo, who was refused the party’s nomination for a seat but won a seat as an independent, changed his stance and disagreed with giving Kim unlimited authority.
“Regardless of how much the party has broken down, asking for unlimited power and a term without a time limit are requests that look down on the party,” Hong said on his social media post.
By Kim Bo-gyung (
lisakim425@heraldcorp.com)
