Leader Kang stresses need to put forward alternative to shore up public support


Reformists of the Unified Progressive Party on Monday suggested they would create a new party to restore progressive politics and public support sapped by a vote-rigging scandal.

In a news conference, UPP leader Kang Ki-kab said the party needs a “developmental dismantlement” and break with undemocratic far-leftist forces. 

“We cannot restore public support and confidence just by changing the party name or our platforms. To reestablish progressive politics, we need to explore various options including a ‘developmental dismantlement’ of the party,” he said.

The move came after the party failed to oust its two proportional representative lawmakers last month, who were selected through an in-house poll allegedly marred by irregularities.

“The only way left for the sake of the reestablishment is to create a popular progressive party that goes beyond the UPP. We need to put forward a new alternative before the public.”

The party has been faltering amid escalating infighting between the reformist faction and the mainstreamers including the controversial duo ― Reps. Lee Seog-ki and Kim Jae-yeon.

The two, the core members of the faction, which conservatives denounced for its past pro-North Korea activities, argue that the accusations against them are based on an insufficient probe, and that they were legitimately picked.

The ouster move has deepened the factional rift, adding to the growing public antipathy over the scandal.

An opinion survey released by pollster Realmeter puts the party’s support for the first week of this month at 2.8 percent, the lowest since its inception last December. The figure was a 1.5 percent drop from the previous week.

The scandal has undermined the party’s self-declared core values of democracy and strong ethics, and its legitimacy as the third-largest party in the National Assembly.

In its wake, The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, the UPP’s largest base of support, said that it would suspend its political support for the party until it completes a sweeping overhaul. 

During the news conference, Kang made it clear that his faction would break with its rival group.

“We will completely break away from the hegemonic (intra-party) rivalry that resulted in public frustration and disenchantment. We need to be reborn as a progressive party that is democratic and compatible with common sense,” he said.

On Sunday, key reform-minded UPP members such as Rhyu Shi-min and Sim Sang-jeong gathered to discuss the future course of action their faction would take to shore up public confidence ahead of the December presidential election.

The reformist faction has been agonizing over whether to push for thorough reform while remaining within the party or leave it and create a new one in consideration of a deepening factional division.

The scandal is concerned with the party’s primaries for picking proportional representation candidates. Many party members purportedly cast proxy votes. In some cases, votes that should have been invalidated were counted. In some polling stations a sole party official led the vote-counting process without any observers.

By Song Sang-ho (sshluck@heraldcorp.com)