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| Former People's Party leader Ahn Cheol-soo answers reporters after paying tribute to late former presidents at the Seoul National Cemetery, Monday, officially resuming his political activities. Ahn arrived in Korea a day before after spending about 16 months studying abroad in Germany and the U.S. Yonhap |
By Jung Da-min
Former People's Party leader Ahn Cheol-soo has returned to politics, declaring that he will pursue his own way as a "pragmatic centrist." Although he was once a strong presidential candidate, expectations are mixed over whether he will be able to gain as much public attention and political power as before, especially because he has failed in almost all major events.
He lost the presidential race; lost the Seoul mayoral election in 2018; and the merger of his liberal People's Party and conservative Bareun Party to create the Bareunmirae Party (BMP) has resulted in internal feuds and breakaways.
Ahn returned to Korea, Sunday, after 16 months studying abroad.
"I will create a party that will realize pragmatic and centrist ideologies free of the logic of polarized political camps," Ahn told reporters at Incheon International Airport.
He said he himself would not run in the April 15 general election but instead help those who can bring about positive change to the country.
He officially kicked off his political activities the next day by paying tribute to late former presidents at the Seoul National Cemetery.
Ahn said he was not interested in joining the integration move among certain conservative groups ― the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP), the minor New Conservative Party and some independent lawmakers. The New Conservative Party is a breakaway group from the BMP, which he co-founded.
"There are many questions regarding the meeting and parting of political parties ahead of the general election, but what matters more is the direction," Ahn said. "I will first tell people about the direction in which our country needs to move, as I have been watching closely."
Political watchers, however, doubt if Ahn's rhetoric of pragmatic centrism will appeal to voters. They say Ahn will need to join a side as there is such a polarized, confrontational structure between the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK)-led liberals and the LKP-led conservatives.
Kim Meen-geon, a professor of Kyung Hee University's multi-major Humanitas College, questioned the viability of Ahn's plan to launch a "third way" party.
"It is unlikely that Ahn can keep the ruling DPK in check if he chooses to make a three-way structure," the professor said.
Another political watcher Kim Haing, CEO of Wikitree, an interactive online news provider, said that it is not easy for those in the gray zone to get votes in any country.
"The most urgent task for Ahn is to choose a certain political color," Kim Haing said. She also said that it is contradictory that Ahn would lead the election strategies when he himself does not run in the election.
After creating the BMP in February 2018 shortly before the local elections that year, Ahn pursued "center-right" political ideas. But he left the party in September that year after his defeat in the Seoul mayoral election earlier in June. He spent about 16 months studying in Germany and the U.S.
It has yet to be seen whether he will join the Bareunmirae party again.
Barenmirae leader Sohn Hak-kyu welcomed Ahn's return but Ahn has taken a cautious stance, saying he would meet Sohn to consult on many issues but first needs to show the people which direction he wants to take.
"I will give Ahn an enthusiastic welcome under the name of our party and do my best to help Ahn make a new way in the politics of Korea together with the Bareunmirae Party," Sohn said during a party meeting.
Meanwhile, Ahn also visited the May 18th National Cemetery in Gwangju, Monday, which is dedicated to those killed in the pro-democracy uprising in 1980. He said he went to the Gwangju and Jeolla regions, where the People's Party was based, saying he failed to meet the expectations of people there when merging the party with the conservative Bareun Party.
Rep. Park Jie-won of minor opposition the New Alternatives, which had been a part of the People's Party, said people in the Jeolla region would not support Ahn again.
"He is not a new politician anymore; he is an old one," Park said in a radio interview, Monday. "Gwangju people who were fooled before will not be fooled again."
