Is President Setting Stage for New Political Party?

It is rumored that President Roh asked former justice minister Kim Seong-ho to run in the next general election slated for April 2008. This is generating interest in the president’s future plans and the possibility of the emergence of a new political party led by the president after his term in office ends.

Roh Moo-hyun, the boss of a new party?-

A vast majority of political observers say that the president will practice politics after he leaves office on February 25, 2008.

Roh frequently said that his leaving Cheong Wa Dae would not signal his retirement from the political scene. Besides, most of his aides are in their 40s, so they are likely to remain in politics.

A pro-government figure said, “The president and pro-Roh camp are naturally more interested in the next general elections than the December presidential election. Their chance to win a foothold is to win in the next general election through the creation of a new party led by Roh, and what the president wants is to become a politically influential leader of a party.”

That is the reason why the Participatory Government Evaluation Forum (PGEF), which is composed of former government ministers and deputy ministers, is drawing attention. The leader of the forum is former presidential chief of staff Lee Byeong-wan, and the permanent executive director of PGEF is Roh’s closest aide Ahn Hee-jeong.

The PGEF has 15 local branches in 15 different cities and provinces nationwide. It is a quasi-political party. In a media interview, Ahn said, “Roh-style politics should continue. If we are defeated in the next presidential election, there will be nothing we can do. But it is not the end of the road.”

In a PGEF lecture on June 2, President Roh said, “The future of our democracy lies in Roh Sa Mo (acronym for gathering of people who love Roh Moo-hyun). The future of our democracy lies in PGFE, which encompasses people who are not yet a member of Roh Sa Mo as well.” At this point, experts are saying that the PGEF is an organization designed to prepare for the general election.

Party composition plays an important role in that particular prediction. The United New Democratic Party (UNDP) is a political party cobbled together by political factions with different interests. It is said that the UNDP could evaporate after the December presidential election. And the relations between the president and the UNDP are also ambiguous.

Some say that pro-Roh politicians are using the PGEF as a vehicle to form a political faction like former President Kim Young-sam’s or Kim Dae-jung’s in the old days. It is also known that pro-Roh politicians have agreed to field a single candidate for the presidential election.

Political observers say that director of National Intelligence Service (NIS) Kim Man-bok, who is from Busan, may have been asked to run in general elections.

Kim has been accused of prior election campaigning by inviting the citizens of Gijang, his hometown, for an NIS tour, and sending wreaths to local events in Gijang. It would have been very difficult for Kim, who is well aware of the requirement of public servant neutrality in elections, to do that without the president’s encouragement, many guess.

An official from the pro-government camp said, “The president has been asking his ministerial nominees if they want to run in the 18th general election.”

jin0619@donga.com