Adapting to change

The main opposition Democratic Party, which boasts 60 years of history, has failed to field its own candidate for Seoul mayor in the Oct. 26 by-election. The party has been reduced to simply assisting Park Won-soon, a civic activist-turned-independent politician who is the unified candidate of the opposition camp. All left-leaning opposition parties and civic groups are now showing signs of rallying around Park, the beneficiary of the "Ahn Cheol-soo syndrome," referring to the popularity of the former software guru. Their assembly goes beyond a one-time unity for the by-election and means a general reorganization of the opposition camp. Some suggest a “big tent” under which all opposition parties and political groups rally under the banner of “welfare alliance,” and compete with their different ideologies. Other even argue for the creation of a single political party encompassing all opposition parties.

The ultimate goal of leftists is to defeat the ruling Grand National Party in the general and presidential elections next year. To them, the political order led by parties or the value of party politics is of little importance. They believe that they can win the elections by presenting fresh faces as candidates, appeal to the public against the widening social disparity, and use social networking services.

Behind the Oct. 26 by-election for Seoul mayor is such a movement to create a new political order. Whether the movement grows visible depends on the result of the by-election, but the big trend for such change has been formed. Despite the major and rapid change in the situation, the ruling party appears clueless that it faces a crisis.

Former party chief Park Geun-hye, who is the leading candidate for Korea`s next president, has agreed to support her party’s election campaign for the first time in four years. The party’s two rival factions have also joined hands for the by-election. Yet the party seems to lack any fundamental sense of crisis. Such a minor change by the ruling party is nothing compared to the cause of the grand unity of progressive forces. It is unclear whether the ruling party can maintain its internal unity after the by-election and embrace conservative civic groups.

The crisis is present and clear. Park was right when she said, “Not just the Grand National Party but also the nation`s politics is in crisis.” Major parties in the U.S. and Britain have evolved by overcoming a countless number of crises. A party can survive only when it reacts positively and flexibly to changes in external conditions and the public’s hopes. The ruling party can overcome its unprecedented crisis only by reforming itself to the extent that it can lead changes in the political order.