"Already Acting Like a Frontrunner for the Presidency," "Watching Candidate Unification" Ruling and Opposition Parties Check An Cheol-soo

Na Kyung-won "Cannot entrust elections to politicians who calculate advantages"
Woo Sang-ho "Not the geocentric theory but the 'Andong theory'... Ahn, self-centered"

Ahn Cheol-soo, leader of the People’s Party, is speaking at the 'Child Abuse Prevention and Response Meeting' held at the National Assembly on the 13th.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Midam] Ahead of the April 7 Seoul mayoral by-election, both ruling and opposition parties continue to check Ahn Cheol-soo, leader of the People’s Party. In particular, as Ahn repeatedly draws a line against joining the People Power Party and insists on running as 'Candidate No. 4,' sharp criticism from the People Power Party side continues.

On the 13th, Jeong Jin-seok, chairman of the People Power Party’s nomination committee, said at a lecture invited by the party’s first-term lawmakers’ meeting called 'Myeongbulheojeon Conservative' that regarding Ahn, "After giving up on the presidential election and deciding to run for mayor, he has not discussed how to (unify the candidacy) but keeps just watching. It is regrettable," adding "My belief is that the opposition unification that can maximize the winning rate is the unification under Candidate No. 2."

Jeong also countered Ahn’s claim for unification of Seoul mayoral candidates centered on himself by asking, "Is unification under Candidate No. 4 an equation that increases the winning rate?" and said, "We need to hold a primary election using the People Power Party as the platform." Candidate numbers are determined by the number of seats, and if Ahn runs under the People’s Party, he will be Candidate No. 4.

People Power Party preliminary candidates also moved to check Ahn. Former People Power Party lawmaker Na Kyung-won, declaring her candidacy for the Seoul mayoral by-election on the same day, targeted Ahn by saying, "We cannot entrust this critical election to someone who easily backs down and weighs pros and cons," and directly criticized, "How can someone who has ultimately helped this regime at every important political turning point represent the opposition?"

Seocho District Mayor Cho Eun-hee criticized Ahn’s moves by comparing him to a presidential candidate. On the same day, through her Facebook, Mayor Cho said, "Looking at Candidate Ahn Cheol-soo’s recent moves, Seoul citizens are nowhere to be seen. Does Candidate Ahn even care about the lives of Seoul citizens?" and criticized, "Looking at Candidate Ahn’s recent moves, he seems too 'up (UP).' It appears as if he is already the mayor and is acting like a presidential candidate."

Ahn Cheol-soo, leader of the People’s Party, is speaking at the ‘Child Abuse Prevention and Response Meeting’ held at the National Assembly on the 13th. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

The Democratic Party also repeatedly launched checks against Ahn. On the 12th, Woo Sang-ho, a Democratic Party lawmaker who declared his candidacy for Seoul mayor, said, "The Ahn I have observed has not changed since entering politics. He seems to hardly tolerate situations that do not revolve around himself," and pointed out, "Just looking at how he has repeatedly split and formed new parties under the name of new politics explains why the 'Ahn theory' rather than the 'geocentric theory' is circulating."

Park Young-sun, Minister of SMEs and Startups, who is considering running for Seoul mayor, also criticized on the 11th during an appearance on CBS Radio’s 'Kim Hyun-jung’s News Show,' saying, "There is ongoing questioning about whether someone who has taken a zigzag path can be entrusted with Seoul." When asked if this remark was aimed at Ahn, Minister Park replied, "I will leave the interpretation to the listeners."

Kim Jin-ae, a lawmaker of the Open Democratic Party who is promoting unification with the ruling party, pointed out the term 'opposition unified candidate' used by Ahn.

At a press conference held at the National Assembly communication office, Kim said, "As the party leader, Ahn should know that all parties except the ruling party are opposition parties, but he keeps using a mirage-like term as if the entire opposition is discussing unification and as if he will be the unified candidate of all opposition parties, misleading voters," and criticized, "This is arrogance and excessive self-consciousness that focuses only on criticizing the ruling party and refuses to acknowledge the existence of other parties."

She continued, "Starting from the candidacy declaration by falsely claiming to be the opposition unified candidate is deceiving voters and is a politically calculated move," and raised her voice, "Amid the severe situation due to the COVID-19 pandemic, housing supply, and job issues, Ahn’s candidacy declaration contains no policies or alternatives for Seoul citizens except for the three words 'Moon Jae-in regime,' 'tyranny,' and 'opposition unified candidate.'"

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