Presidential candidates Moon Jae-in of the Democratic United Party and independent Ahn Cheol-soo clashed Wednesday on political reform, a key issue they must agree on if they are to form a potential alliance.

Following Ahn’s proposal Tuesday to reduce the parliamentary seats and state subsidies for political parties, and scrap the central party system, Moon retorted, “It is unrealistic.”

Instead, Moon released more of his own reform plans Wednesday, pledging to obligate the disclosure of assets owned by the president and his family to eradicate corruption.

“Although I agree on the need for daring innovation for new politics, it is difficult to give my consent willingly to (Ahn’s) detailed plans,” Moon told reporters.

Their progress toward an alliance for a single candidacy to face Rep. Park Geun-hye of the ruling Saenuri Party was seen to have hit a snag, as the two remained split on the approach to reform.

The tug-of-war between Moon and Ahn over the reform measures is expected to continue for the time being as each of them seeks to seize the upper hand in a single candidacy by leading a reform drive of their own making.

Ahn’s announcement of his reform plans came days after the DUP upped the pressure, demanding to know the level of political overhaul necessary to start discussing the alliance.

In his Sept. 19 presidential bid announcement, Ahn had said a public consensus on political reform was a precondition for teaming up with the main opposition party.

Last week, Ahn said that the reform should be based on achieving cooperative politics, strengthening democracy and abolishing privileges. Ahn’s Tuesday proposal was part of his plan to abolish privileges.

Along with cutting the number of parliamentary seats, Ahn also suggested increasing the number of proportional representatives, reducing the government subsidy for the parties and abolishing the central party system by removing their power of nomination for general elections. Many of the ideas were reminiscent of the proposals once pushed by members of the Saenuri Party in January this year, but those proposals did not come to fruition.

Moon, on the other hand, proposed dividing presidential power with the prime minister. He also pledged to change the election system to reduce the number of lawmakers representing constituencies to 200 and increase the number of proportional members to 100, and defer the demarcation of constituencies to an independent body.

While Ahn’s measures were aimed at a fundamental change of the country’s party politics, Moon’s ideas were seen as more moderate.

The DUP immediately seized upon Ahn’s vision for political change.

“(Ahn’s measures) appear to be far from reality,” said Lee Nak-yeon, one of Moon’s joint election committee chiefs, in a radio interview.

But Ahn’s side remained confident, retorting that political parties were merely holding onto their privileges.

“The people will be the judge,” Ahn told reporters Wednesday.

“It made me think that there is a huge gap between what the ordinary people think and the political parties think (of the necessary level of reform),” Ahn said.

Some observers, however, said the two may be able to find a compromise as both push to discard the party nomination of parliamentary members and pursuance of vested interests.

“Whatever it is, I hope that it is something the both sides can agree to. It is hoped that Ahn’s side proposes measures that we do not have to be too burdened about,” Lee Nak-yeon said.

Political pundits, meanwhile, criticized the proposals of both candidates.

“Some of them are not fit for South Korea and can bring about side-effects. More detailed discussion is needed,” said professor Cho Kuk of Seoul National University during a debate hosted by Moon’s camp. Cho had been sought after by both Ahn and Moon to join their campaigns, to which he had refused.

“Political reform is not to delete or reduce politics but to vitalize it. While I applaud Ahn’s ideas to break the high-cost low-efficiency and reduce politician’s privileges, there are few points that need to be reviewed in terms of methods,” he added, citing how the cut in state subsidies may lead to the circulation of illicit funds.

Cho said Moon’s measures were belated and fell short of meeting the public’s demands.

“When I look at the DUP, it is always a step behind,” he said, pointing out that the DUP lacked youthful party members and that its cloistered structure hindered the party from spreading its support online.

“The organizational culture (of the DUP) fails to fulfill the citizens in everyday life, and they instead agglomerate around the election period, leaving gaps in-between the elections,” he said.

By Lee Joo-hee (jhl@heraldcorp.com)