Ahn’s new party should develop its own policies to succeed

Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo announced Thursday the launch of a “new politics promotion committee,” which will lay the foundation for a new political party. He finally made official his plan to form a new party. The independent lawmaker said that (the new party) will do the best to fulfill its responsibility” in the provincial elections in June next year. Ahn said that the party will seek politics for ordinary people and embrace people pursuing industrialization and democratization all together while being aimed at building a righteous welfare nation and achieving peaceful unification. This means he intends to make a party that can appeal to people in the middle ground by not being bound by the divided ideology of conservatism and liberalism.

Given Korea’s reality where conservatives and liberals aggressively confront each other, the presence of a reasonable central party raises expectations among people. However, not many renowned figures are found in the current participants. In fact, only two of them are lawmakers, including Ahn. Also since some of the few eminent figures who had been supporting Ahn have also left him, it is questionable if the new party to be formed can have a solid political foundation. Although two years have passed since Ahn entered the political circles calling for “new politics,” what new politics exactly means is still ambiguous.

According to a poll conducted by the Korea Society Opinion Institute on Wednesday, the approval rating for Ahn’s new party stood at 27 percent, which is lower than that of the Saenuri Party (38 percent) but more than twice higher than that of the Democratic Party (12 percent). Bubbles of such approval ratings, however, may burst anytime. No third party had been successful in the past except for those who had a strong supporting foundation in the Chungcheong area. The reason behind this is not only that existing parties are hostile toward a new party, but also that Korean political parties have been driven by dominant figures rather than policies and ideologies. Being central in the political world can be perceived negatively by people because of unclear party lines.

It is said that maintaining a party is more difficult than forming one. This is why Ahn’s party should pursue not political figures but policies and ideology. A new party can succeed only when supported by concrete policies. Drawing significant figures is also a key to success. Next year’s provincial elections will become a test bed for the new party.

Considering Ahn’s moves over the past two years, many experts predict that the new party is likely to join hands with the main opposition Democratic Party to put up a single candidate and become a part of the opposition alliance. In that case, the identity of the new party will blur and consequently disappoint people in the middle ground. The new party will have to compete with existing parties on the square with its own figures and policies.