The chief of the People’s Party, a minor centrist group, on Wednesday vowed to help the liberal Moon Jae-in administration succeed.
“The People’s Party will be reborn, upholding the spirit of Honam (Gwangju and Jeolla provinces),” Rep. Park Joo-sun, the party’s interim chief said during a visit to Gwangju, South Jeolla Province, the party’s home turf and a liberal stronghold.
“We will duly play the role of an opposition party, but at the same time will boldly cooperate (on issues deemed right) for the success of the Moon administration.”
Rep. Park Joo-sun (center) of the centrist People's Party speaks during a press breifing on June 21, 2017. (Yonhap)
The People’s Party holds 40 seats in the 299-member National Assembly. It is viewed as a key group that could help the 120-member ruling Democratic Party of Korea push its agenda in South Korea’s divided parliament.
The Gwangju and Jeolla provinces are where 23 of the party’s 40 lawmakers are elected, but a recent poll showed 99 percent of its citizens support President Moon Jae-in, whose Democratic Party shares the same political roots as the People’s Party.
Despite enjoying an unprecedented level of public support, President Moon is facing difficulty in forming his Cabinet team, reorganizing the government structure and drawing up a supplementary budget, due to staunch opposition in the parliament. The People’s Party has sided with two conservative parties in opposing most of Moon’s drives.
Rep. Park said the People’s Party would not boycott parliamentary proceedings, which the main opposition Liberty Korea Party has done.
He stressed that the president’s appointment of Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha, who was opposed by three parties, had ruined the cooperative relationship between the state chief and the parliament.
By Jo He-rim (herim@heraldcorp.com)