Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo, the candidate for the People’s Party, is to resign from his current seat as a lawmaker upon officially registering himself for the May 9 presidential election Saturday, his aides confirmed Wednesday.
“It is the posture of a responsible politician to give up one’s parliamentary seat when registering as a presidential candidate,” Ahn said earlier in the day in an interview with local daily Hankook Ilbo.
Centrist presidential candidate Ahn Cheol-soo (Yonhap)
His camp officials later confirmed Ahn’s plan to step down from the legislature and devote himself to the forthcoming race.
Ahn’s decision was taken as a reflection of his uncompromising aspiration for presidency as well as an effort to mark himself apart from his rivals.
Moon Jae-in of the Democratic Party of Korea retained his seat in the National Assembly during the 2012 presidential election.
Hong Joon-pyo of the conservative Liberty Korea Party recently came under fire for holding on to his South Gyeongsang Province governorship up to the last moment, so a by-election could not be scheduled for the May 9 vote.
(
tellme@heraldcorp.com)