People Power Party Seoul Mayoral Candidate: "Unification with Ahn Cheol-soo is Not a Choice but a 'Must'"

All Agree on the Need for Unification
Differences in Methods and Approaches
O Se-hoon’s Joint Government Plan Must Be Realized
Oh Shin-hwan and Cho Eun-hee: "Vision and Policy Unification Should Be Prioritized"

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] The People Power Party's Seoul mayoral primary candidates identified ‘unification’ as an essential condition for the April 7 by-election.

At the People Power Party Seoul mayoral candidate debate hosted by TV Chosun on the 1st, when asked the true or false question, "Can you win the Seoul mayoral election without unification with Ahn Cheol-soo, the People’s Party preliminary candidate selected as the unified candidate of the third zone?" all candidates answered false. They agreed that unification of opposition candidates is necessary to win.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Candidate Oh Se-hoon said, "This is an election that must be won," adding, "We must defeat the Democratic Party candidate and reclaim Seoul City so that the opposition can achieve a regime change in the upcoming presidential election." He stated, "I will definitely unify to increase the probability of victory."

Candidate Na Kyung-won said, "According to this morning’s opinion polls, public sentiment on national stability and regime judgment is almost the same," adding, "For us, it will be difficult to win unless we unite this sentiment calling for judgment on the Moon Jae-in administration." Na pointed out, "Since we are currently in a COVID-19 crisis era, the government is using various means," and criticized, "In fact, they are distributing 20 trillion won in disaster relief funds ahead of the election."

Candidate Cho Eun-hee said, "Unification is the people's command," and added, "We must put the brakes on the Moon Jae-in government's tyranny." Cho emphasized, "If we don’t, we become sinners," and stressed, "We cannot win with the complacent mindset that we can win without unification." She highlighted, "They are throwing money around with the Gadeokdo New Airport and disaster relief funds, so if we want to judge them, the opposition must unite tightly."

Candidate Oh Shin-hwan said, "This is an election the opposition must win," and emphasized, "There must be a unification that can win."

While there was consensus on the necessity of unification, opinions diverged on the methodology. Candidate Na Kyung-won, who raised concerns about ‘reverse selection’ in opinion polls, and Candidate Oh Se-hoon, who had conflicts over the debate panel’s evaluation method, both expressed that the party’s decision should be followed regarding the unification method.

Na Kyung-won said, "I have such a strong will for unification that I would even say it’s fine if Candidate Ahn Cheol-soo sets the unification rules," but added, "It’s not something candidates can decide on their own; it must be coordinated with the party, and the party should take the lead." Oh Se-hoon also said, "I think it is very likely to go to an opinion poll primary," but added, "If that happens, it becomes a winner-takes-all system, making it difficult to unite the support base. If roles are divided and there is some agreement on jointly managing Seoul City, and the winner publicly announces that they will manage together rather than alone, then the support base will accept the unification result."

Candidates Cho Eun-hee and Oh Shin-hwan agreed, saying, "Unifying vision and policies should come first."

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