Uri Party Losing People’s Support

Rep. Yeom Dong-yeon, a lawmaker of the ruling Uri Party and President Roh Moo-hyun’s closest associate, resigned from the Uri Party yesterday.

Yeom has become the fifth lawmaker to defect from the Uri Party since the party moved to create a new political party, and the first defector with a local constituency in the Jeolla region.

Announcing his resignation, Yeom said, “Middle-class citizens are pointing their fingers at the Uri Party and withdrawing their support for the party.”

Meanwhile, experts predict that large-scale opportunistic defections may occur in early February. In particular, they are paying a great deal of attention to whether party figures such as Rep. Kim Han-gill, the Uri Party’s floor leader, and Rep. Kang Bong-kyun, the chairman of Policy Committee, will follow suit and leave the party.

Yesterday, Kim said during a high-ranking policy meeting that, “It is time to carefully consider whether citizens will show support for the recent changes in the Uri Party.” Last Monday, after attending a central committee meeting, Kim met a reporter from the Dong-A Ilbo and also said, “I think more party members seem to show resistance against the party’s current silent downfall.”

In the meantime, Kang said, “If we conduct political reforms centering around the Uri Party, members will complain, saying, ‘We haven’t made that many big mistakes,’ which may signal the party’s doom.” He also added that, “If the party’s new leadership faces difficulties in achieving the party’s integration, I will depart from the party even before the party’s national convention.”

Meanwhile, Chung Dong-young, former chairman of the Uri Party, had an interview with a radio program on January 29 and said, “Even though it is good news to me that the central committee finally reached a compromise, I think a process like this is nothing but a waste of time to those who have already decided to resign from the party.”

tesomiom@donga.com