The main opposition Democratic Party has packed up its tent in front of Seoul City Hall. The party set up the tent more than 100 days ago as a symbol of its street protests against the National Intelligence Service’s alleged meddling in the December presidential election.

The party folded up the tent not because it has ended its campaign to bring the truth to light. Quite the opposite. As its “tent protest” has failed to drum up much support from the public, the party is now seeking to escalate it by joining forces with other opposition groups.

In October, DP leader Kim Han-gil called for a “national coalition” of all opposition forces to step up pressure on the government to conduct a thorough investigation into the NIS and other state agencies, which are alleged to have carried out illegal smear campaigns against the opposition candidate.

Kim’s proposal received a positive response from the minority Progressive Justice Party and independent lawmaker Ahn Cheol-soo, who is pushing for a new political party of his own. Many civic groups also welcomed it.

Thus representatives of these diverse organizations held a joint meeting Tuesday, resolving to work together to attain three demands: an independent counsel to investigate the allegations, a special parliamentary panel to discuss NIS reform, and the immediate resignations of presidential chief of staff Kim Ki-choon, NIS director Nam Jae-joon and Justice Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn.

None of these demands are likely to be seriously considered by leaders of the ruling Saenuri Party, let alone be accepted. This is not just because all the demands are unacceptable to them; it is also because the aggregation of opposition forces is unlikely to muster enough support from the public to have leverage with the ruling camp.

In this regard, the DP needs to seriously think about its strategy. It needs to face the tough question of why its level of public support remains so low. According to a poll conducted by Research View, the party’s approval rating was 15.1 percent in October, less than half of the Saenuri’s 35.8 percent and even lower than 23.9 percent of Ahn’s party, which has yet to be created.

DP leaders must be thinking that the party’s ratings are low mainly because it has not waged a fiercer fight against the ruling party and the government. Otherwise, it is difficult to explain their latest move.

Yet this is the wrong analysis. The party’s rallying cry fails to resonate with the public because it reflects partisan interests more than those of the people. Although the party strongly denies it, the Tuesday meeting is widely seen as a first step toward forming a new opposition coalition for the local elections slated for next June.

There is nothing wrong with preparing for the June election. But the party has a long row to hoe before thinking about an election more than a half year from now. More than anything else, it needs to pass more than 100 reform bills aimed at revitalizing the Korean economy and improving people’s livelihoods.

If the DP shows as much enthusiasm in meeting its legislative responsibilities as in fighting the government over the election irregularities, it will see its approval rating shoot up and reap a better outcome in the June election.