Won Hee-ryong, First Participant in the Reform Committee: "There Must Be Direction in Opposition Party Unification"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] On the 22nd, Jeju Governor Won Hee-ryong participated for the first time in the Innovation Integration Promotion Committee (혁통위) for centrist-conservative unification and raised his voice about the necessity and direction of opposition party unification. On the same day, Governor Won also met with Hwang Kyo-ahn, leader of the Liberty Korea Party, expanding the scope of integration.

Governor Won attended the 혁통위 meeting held at the National Assembly Members' Office Building and stated, "The public believes that the Moon administration's blatant arbitrary actions are due to the weakness of the opposition parties," adding, "To uphold the will of the people, the unification of the opposition is extremely urgent, and I thought I should contribute with that sense of duty," explaining his reason for joining.

Earlier, on the 20th, 혁통위 Chairman Park Hyung-joon visited Jeju Provincial Office and met with Governor Won to request his participation in 혁통위. After careful consideration, Governor Won officially announced his joining on the 21st. He emphasized, "However, there must be a direction for opposition unification," and added, "It should be a party that encompasses centrists and conservatives who can gain support from the centrist-conservative group disappointed with past conservative parties and the non-Moon centrist group disillusioned with the Moon administration."

Meanwhile, on the same day, 혁통위 discussed the preliminary roadmap for promoting unification and the operation of the unified new party. According to the roadmap, 혁통위 will collect discussions and outcomes on unification from political parties and civic groups from the 23rd to the 30th, then review the results and discuss unification-related matters from the 27th to the 30th. On the 31st, a first public report on the results of the pan-centrist-conservative unification will be held. From the 1st to the 3rd of next month, preparations will be made to form the unified new party founding committee, and the preparatory committee will be launched in early next month. The unified new party is scheduled to launch in mid-next month.

Chairman Park stated, "Once the unified new party is launched, 혁통위 will automatically dissolve," adding, "Regarding the operation of the unified new party, it was decided to distinguish between before and after the election." Even if the unified new party is formed, it will be difficult to hold a party convention to officially form the leadership before the election, so until then, all efforts will be focused on the election task force, and after the election, the party constitution and regulations will be officially revised before holding the party convention.

Regarding the basic direction of candidate nomination, the following were confirmed: ▲ securing the independence of the nomination management committee and excluding quota nominations ▲ guaranteeing public participation in nominations ▲ future-oriented nominations ▲ ethical nominations. Chairman Park explained, "The Liberty Korea Party has established a cutoff principle, and we accept and support that," adding, "In strong regions, we will focus on selecting candidates who consider youth and women and can practice noblesse oblige."

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