Ahn Cheol-soo Faction's 'Unprecedented Acting Authority' Standoff... Bareunmirae Party Faces Factional Conflict Again

Lee Dong-seop "Floor leader election is a conflict of interest"
Ruling faction calls it 'absurd'... Floor leader to be elected on the 20th
Ahn Cheol-soo faction also criticizes as 'false reassurance'

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] As former lawmaker Ahn Cheol-soo is expected to return to Korea before the Lunar New Year holiday, another factional conflict is unfolding within the Bareunmirae Party. This began when Lee Dong-seop, the acting floor leader aligned with Ahn Cheol-soo, declared he would hold on to the 'unprecedented acting position' of floor leader, which became vacant following lawmaker Oh Shin-hwan's defection. Within the party, there are criticisms that Ahn Cheol-soo's faction members are pursuing their own political agendas regardless of the former lawmaker's intentions.

At the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the 15th, Acting Floor Leader Lee said, "I plan to continue serving as acting floor leader until former lawmaker Ahn returns and settles in," adding, "If there are calls to hold a floor leader election even though former leader Ahn has not returned, that would be an act that drags the party into further turmoil."

The pro-party leadership faction responded with disbelief. They have already initiated the procedure to elect a new floor leader. A lawmaker from the leadership faction told Asia Economy in a phone interview on the same day, "Ugh, I don't want to say much. According to the party constitution and regulations, that is not possible," and added, "The floor leader election management committee (Election Committee) will proceed according to the principles."

Previously, the Bareunmirae Party Supreme Council attempted to elect the next floor leader through a general assembly of lawmakers on the 10th but postponed the schedule by a week at the request of Ahn Cheol-soo's faction. The floor leader election management committee plans to accept candidate registration applications on the 15th and 16th and hold a general assembly of lawmakers on the 20th to elect the floor leader.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Recently, Ahn Cheol-soo's faction has faced criticism for 'exploiting Ahn's name' (Ansim-pali). In fact, former lawmaker Ahn and his faction have expressed completely different positions regarding conservative unification. Ahn clearly drew a line against the Innovation Integration Promotion Committee (Hyuktongwi), which advocates centrist-conservative unification. On the 14th, through his former chief secretary Kim Do-sik, Ahn stated, "I have no intention of participating in politically engineered unification discussions."

On the other hand, members of Ahn's faction hinted at the possibility of conservative unification. At a luncheon meeting with reporters on the same day, Acting Floor Leader Lee said, "Once former lawmaker Ahn returns, we will immediately begin political realignment," adding, "We have also kept the possibility of unification open while talking with Hyuktongwi." Lawmaker Lee Tae-gyu also said on MBC Radio on the 13th, "If the direction former lawmaker Ahn wants to take is agreed upon by the Liberty Korea Party and the New Conservative Party, I don't see any reason not to discuss unification with them."

The following day, Acting Floor Leader Lee promptly changed his stance. He said, "I want to clarify because what I said privately at yesterday's press luncheon was reported and may cause misunderstandings," emphasizing, "Regarding opposition unification, many discussions are ongoing, but (former lawmaker Ahn) has no intention of participating in politically engineered unification discussions."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.