Ahn Cheol-soo: "The Political Leader's Quality Is to Clearly Express Their Thoughts"... Rebuttal to Kim Ki-hyun

"Revision of Party Constitution and Rules, in a Way Retroactive Legislation"
"All Democratic Party Supreme Council Members from the Capital Area... Will Be a Battleground in Next Year's General Election"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] In response to Kim Ki-hyun, a member of the People Power Party, who criticized that "a lawmaker trying to take the lead of the party is causing confusion by overturning the results of the party meeting," Ahn Cheol-soo, also a member of the People Power Party, rebutted on the 31st, saying, "It is the quality of a political leader to correctly express my thoughts." Both are considered frontrunners for the next party leadership.

On the same day, Ahn appeared on CBS Radio's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show' and said, "This is not about my personal interests at all."

He emphasized, "The party meeting was held last weekend, but even immediately after that, I met and listened to the opinions of residents in our region and carefully considered them before expressing my views. That is politics," adding, "That is why I spoke up as the first candidate."

Earlier, Ahn had argued via social networking services (SNS) that Floor Leader Kwon Seong-dong should resign and the party should shift to a Supreme Council system. In response, Kim criticized on SNS, saying, "A lawmaker trying to lead the party should not cause confusion by failing to clearly state their position at the party meeting, maintaining an ambiguous stance, and then belatedly overturning the meeting's results with remarks made while cautiously watching the situation."

Ahn also argued that the party should switch to a Supreme Council system considering the 2024 general election. He said, "As far as I remember, it is the first time in the history of the Democratic Party that all elected Supreme Council members are from the metropolitan area," adding, "This means that the metropolitan area will be a battleground in the next general election.

Some voices call for an urgent transition to an Emergency Response Committee for party stability. Regarding this, Ahn said, "Who would doubt the sincerity to quickly resolve this situation?" but added, "As I mentioned, the Emergency Response Committee means entrusting our fate to the court's judgment, and if that happens, do we really have a countermeasure against this uncertainty?" This is because former People Power Party leader Lee Jun-seok has also filed an additional injunction against the Emergency Response Committee members.

To resolve the court risk, the People Power Party amended the party constitution and rules at the party meeting on the 30th, but Ahn believes even this could be problematic as 'retroactive legislation.' He said, "Amending the law anew for the Emergency Response Committee to be established is, in a way, retroactive legislation," adding, "We don't know what the judgment will be, but pushing it through makes me question whether this is truly a way for us to decide our own fate."

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