People Power Party, People Party in war of nerves over merger

The opposing People Power Party (PPP) and the People Party (PP) have engaged in a boring war of nerves to agree on a merger for the past week since the April 7 by-elections ended up with a landslide victory of the main opposing party. PPP floor leader and acting head Joo Ho-young said on Thursday, “Our discussion will come to a conclusion next week. We look forward to positive results,” referring to their negotiations over a merger of the two parties. By contrast, PP floor leader Kwon Eun-hee drew the line, by saying, “It is only natural that it takes so long to merge two different parties.” 　

PPP floor leader Joo said on Thursday in a radio interview with Buddhist Broadcasting System (BBS), “A general meeting of the party members will be held on Friday to get aligned with a merger with the PP. Next Monday, we will open a meeting of the party leadership of cities and provinces across the nation to conclude the discussion,” proposing to finalize a merger with the PP within next week.

“There has been no claim on any share from the opposite side. Fiscally, it is a clear-cut process,” Joo said. “We have little difficulty in putting things together if we realize a merge because only fewer than 10 staffs work at its secretariat.” As for a timeline of a merger and a national convention, he emphasized that there is general consensus within the party that a merger is supposed to come before a national convention.”

However, there is still a divided debate within the main opposition party over an integration with the PP. In an emergency committee meeting held on Thursday morning, some reportedly maintained that it is not the right way to go to hastily push forward with a merger, calling on the party leadership to listen to its members.


aimhigh@donga.com · empty@donga.com