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Ahn rejects his party leader’s proposal, urging for resignation

Ahn rejects his party leader’s proposal, urging for resignation

Posted November. 30, 2015 08:41,   

한국어

Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy proposed Sunday to select a new party leader through an “innovative party convention” in January. He practically rejected a proposal on a three-party alliance among Moon Jae-in, Ahn Cheol-soo and Park Won-soon, and urged the resignation of Moon, the party leader. It is widely believed that Moon is unlikely to accept Ahn’s proposal as it is. If Moon rejects to resign from his position, some say that Ahn might leave the party. The opposition party is now at the crossroads.

“The Moon-Ahn-Park alliance is not enough to find a way out for our party,” Ahn told a press conference on Sunday. He also released a two-stage roadmap where a newly elected leadership from an innovative party convention integrates itself with a new party formed by Rep. Chun Jung-bae.

“If the new leadership seriously implements reform and proposes an integrated national resistance scheme involving all members of opposition parties, I am confident that we could expect the determination of many people outside the party,” Ahn said. “I thought that the Moon-Ahn-Park alliance is a proposal from the privileged, and it is a relief that he (Ahn) rejected it,” Chun told the Dong-A Ilbo over the phone on Sunday.

To stress the importance of an innovative party convention and ascertain public sentiment, Ahn will visit Gwangju, the stronghold of the opposition party, on Monday during his two-day visit.

Moon held a press conference on Sunday afternoon and expressed regrets about Ahn’s proposal, urging for a peaceful demonstration of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions scheduled on Saturday. “It is regrettable that the proposal of a tri-party alliance was not accepted,” Moon said. “I’ll decide after listing to the opinions of the senior member committee (about an innovative party convention).”

Those who are close to Moon, however, are largely negative about Ahn’s proposal. Moon will have a cooling-off period and seek coordination among different in-party factions, and if this does not work, he is believed to continue pushing for his plan to reform the party which he has claimed so far.

Ahn has not given a clear answer to what he will do unless Moon accepts his proposal on an innovative party convention and an integration with the new party led by Chun. “This is as far as he can go," a key source from Ahn said. This implies that Ahn could leave the party depending on Moon’s decision.

“The rejection of an innovative party convention can be a cause for leaving the party,” a member of a minority faction of the party said. “Around the time when the activities of the committee that assesses elected officials end, those who are blacklisted by the committee could likely leave the party, claiming that the nominees are geared towards the pro-Roh Moo-hyun faction.”



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