The opposition Democratic United Party faces a major crisis as its defeat in Wednesday’s presidential election is set to revive factional strife over responsibility.
The party fell into a leadership vacuum as its candidate Moon Jae-in retreated from party affairs.
He has been a de facto leader since Rep. Lee Hae-chan resigned as chairman last month as part of party renewal which Ahn Cheol-soo, then an independent candidate, had demanded as a condition for opposition candidacy unification.
Moon showed up at a ceremony to disband his election committee at the party’s headquarters on Thursday afternoon.
“(The election defeat) was because of me. The committee has performed better than expectations,” he said, surrounded by sobbing supporters. “I feel sorry for the results.”
He nevertheless urged his colleagues not to lose hope for the future.
“We may have many flaws, in terms of the party’s political leverage or campaigning capacities,” he said. “This may be our chance to truly look back on such faults and find the right solutions to them.”
Optimists predicted that Moon could continue to play a pivotal role in the party, as he is a budding lawmaker with significant political potential.
Despite the defeat, the former human rights lawyer and presidential chief of staff displayed his capacities throughout his campaign, they said.
Critics said that the candidate must bear responsibility for his defeat, even with the support of the entire progressive camp.
Not only Ahn, but leftist figures such as Sim Sang-jeung of the Progressive Justice Party and Lee Jung-hee of the Unified Progressive Party, too, had given up or resigned their candidacy for the sake of a liberal victory.
Moon was also blamed for favoring aides to former President Roh Moo-hyun and triggering factional feuds within the party. It was this partisan structure which allowed the right-wing Saenuri Party to launch a vicious counterattack on the Roh government administration.
With Moon and the former DUP leadership stepping aside, political eyes were fixed on alternative figures, including Ahn.
The professor-turned-politician left for a months-long trip to the United States shortly after voting on Wednesday.
After dropping out of the presidential race, Ahn campaigned for Moon and the DUP, but his passive, lukewarm support gave rise to speculations that he may be in pursuit of his own political plans.
Though he refrained from elaborating further, one of the plausible stories for the political rookie is to create a new party which may embrace the center-left supporters, as well as the politically apathetic.
“This is not the end, as we have next year’s by-elections to think about,” Ahn told his election camp officials, before announcing his resignation last month.
The former candidate also pledged not to take any appointed post in the next government, even if Moon is elected, leaving room for the possibility that he may target at a parliamentary seat or political party leader.
koreaherald@heraldcorp.com
