Ahn Cheol-soo: "Yoo Seung-min and Na Kyung-won Should Both Run... It Must Be a Fierce Competition"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] As the competition among ruling party leadership candidates intensifies, Ahn Cheol-soo, a key candidate from the People Power Party, urged his competitors, former lawmakers Yoo Seung-min and Na Kyung-won, to run, stating that "the party convention should be a fierce competition."

On the 11th, Ahn posted on social networking services (SNS) an article titled "The goal is not to become party leader, but to win the general election and ensure the success of the Yoon Seok-yeol administration," saying, "Unlike the Democratic Party, our party's convention should be a fierce competition that attracts the public's attention."

He said, "It should be able to change the current difficult situation like the Seoul mayoral by-election primary last year," and evaluated, "Due to the dynamic primary at that time, interest in the Democratic Party candidate was pushed aside, becoming a driving force for regime change."

Furthermore, Ahn said, "This convention should provide clear and competitive options within the party to win the general election," adding, "Therefore, I hope both Yoo Seung-min and Na Kyung-won (former lawmakers) will run."

Ahn stated, "Former lawmaker Yoo Seung-min claims to be a reformist conservative, former lawmaker Na Kyung-won aims for traditional conservatism, and I, Ahn Cheol-soo, pride myself on centrist expansion," adding, "With the three candidates running, I believe the convention should ask the public and party members what the best choice for winning the general election is."

Amid ongoing tensions among leadership candidates, this is interpreted as an intention to lead the situation by encouraging competitors to run rather than checking them.

Another leadership candidate, lawmaker Kim Ki-hyun, took to SNS the day before, stating, "Those who want to become the next party leader should not use the 2024 general election as a stepping stone for their presidential ambitions," setting a condition of not running for president as a prerequisite for challenging the party leadership, thereby checking Ahn. Former lawmaker Na also showed a checking move by referring to a poll shared by Yoo, saying, "I have been number one among People Power Party supporters for seven consecutive weeks."

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