A new centrist party aiming to go beyond partisan rivalry and become a constructive alternative to largely distrusted politics will be launched on Monday, posing a fresh challenge to the existing parties ahead of April 11 general elections.

Under the leadership of Park Se-il, a former lawmaker of the ruling Saenuri Party, and president of the non-profit think tank Hansun Foundation, the People’s Thought Party will hold a convention to mark the launch of its Seoul and central chapters in the capital.

The party seeking to include “reform-minded conservatives and reasonable liberals” is poised to field its candidates in more than 200 constituencies out of the total 245. Including the proportional representation seats, it hopes to gain at least 30 parliamentary seats in the elections.

In more than half of the regional electoral districts, the party plans to field professional politicians to boost its chances of success in the elections, which would reshape the political landscape ahead of the presidential vote in December.

The new party’s founding members are now busy attracting high-profile, competent figures to have them run in the elections under its banner.

“Regardless of their ideological orientation, we have contacted a variety of heavyweights. As the other parties have begun their candidate nomination process, our lineup will take shape as it progresses,” a party official told media, declining to be named.

Experts say the party may be able to absorb centrist votes as the ruling and opposition parties alike are “moving leftward” with a set of legislation proposals such as more restrictions on conglomerate investments.

“The new party may be able to appeal to the centrist voters as there seems to be no centrist political groups with the ruling and opposition parties moving leftward. So now, it is crucial for it to absorb them,” said Shin Yul, a professor of political science at Seoul’s Myongji University.

Shin added that the fate of the new party will be largely affected by “outside influence” ― whether the Pro-Lee Myung-bak faction in the ruling Saenuri Party will bolt from it and join the centrist party; and whether it could merge with the minority conservative Liberty Forward Party.

“One of the party’s weaknesses is that it has no lawmaker. If it merges with the LFP, it will have parliamentary seats and at the same time, could court voters in the Seoul metropolitan area and the Chungcheong region, the LFP’s stronghold,” Shin said.

Political analysts have raised the possibility that the current lawmakers and those who fail to gain the ruling party’s nomination for the general elections could leave their party and join the new party.

Some skeptics, however, raised a possibility that the new party could follow in the footsteps of the Democratic People’s Party, which was established in 2000, but broke up in 2004 after failing to gain any seat at the National Assembly in 2004.

By Song Sang-ho (sshluck@heraldcorp.com)