Centrist presidential candidate Ahn Cheol-soo pledged Thursday to launch a coalition government composed of "rational" people who are not affiliated with ousted leader Park Geun-hye or other powerful factions.
Speaking on the campaign trail in Gyeongju, 371 kilometers southeast of Seoul, the nominee of the center-left People's Party promised that an Ahn Cheol-soo administration would not be a government controlled by the party.
Ahn Cheol-soo (left), presidential nominee of the People's Party, greets locals outside a train station in Gyeongju, 371 kilometers southeast of Seoul, on April 27, 2017. (Yonhap)
"I will build a grand people's coalition government with the participation of rational and reformist forces excluding those who opposed (Park's) impeachment and factional hegemonic forces," he told a crowd in front of a train station.
The May 9 election comes in the wake of Park's dismissal over a corruption scandal. Ahn, a former software mogul, has framed the election as a battle between champions of what he calls "new politics" and the old establishment represented by followers of both the conservative Park and the current liberal front-runner candidate Moon Jae-in.
"I will properly erect the country ruined by factional hegemony through a grand people's coalition government," he said, promising also to restore the pride of Gyeongju and the surrounding North Gyeongsang Province, a conservative stronghold.
"How disappointed you must be after President Park Geun-hye's impeachment," he said. "We should really pick the right (person) to ensure we don't get hurt the same way again."
If elected, Ahn plans to appoint his prime minister from outside the party, a camp official said.
He ranked second in a new poll published earlier in the day with 22.8 percent against Moon's 44.4 percent. (Yonhap)