Independent presidential candidate Ahn Cheol-soo refused his rival Moon Jae-in’s proposal to form a joint group for political reform as an initial step toward unifying their candidacy.

Ahn said it is time for the contenders to focus on work for political renewal rather than electoral maneuvering.

“Now is the time for us to respectively work for changes and meet the people’s expectations,” he said through his spokesperson Yoo Min-young.

Ahn and Moon are widely expected to merge their candidacy to compete with Saenuri Party standard-bearer Park Geun-hye.

Earlier in the day the Democratic United Party made a proposal in line with the three-stage alliance plan put forward by Cho Kuk, a law professor at Seoul National University.

“Candidacy unification is essential in order to achieve change of government and political reforms,” Moon’s spokesperson Rep. Jin Sung-joon told reporters.

Cho, an influential left-wing figure, proposed a three-phase plan: forming a joint political reform panel, establishing joint platforms and negotiating candidacy unification.

“Candidate Moon accepted professor Cho’s suggestion because it is considered a reasonable and realistic plan to attain that goal,” Jin said.

Jin proposed appointing the professor to head the panel consisting of equal numbers of members recommended by both sides.

“We will put off the composition of our own political reform panel, until Ahn responds to our offer,” he said.

Moon’s camp also remained flexible over the nature and range of the joint committee, in a compromising effort to bring Ahn into the joint forum.

“If Ahn feels that the unification talk is premature, we may eliminate the given premise and just work on political reforms (for the time being),” Jin said.

On Saturday Moon said Ahn should enter the party and compete with him for candidacy.

Tension has recently risen between the two candidates as the DUP criticized Ahn’s independent presidential bid as unrealistic. Ahn countered that a president free from the corrupt and incompetent party system could better push for political and social reforms.

The ruling Saenuri Party criticized the DUP’s move toward unified candidacy.

“Ahn has already displayed his opposing stance, But Moon continues to make suggestions such as the three-step alliance plan, which looks like political begging,” said Lee Sang-il, spokesperson for Park.

By Bae Hyun-jung (tellme@heraldcorp.com)