Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo had little to lose from his resignation as cochief of the People‘s Party on Wednesday.

By assuming responsibility for the ongoing rebate scandal, he not only reemphasized his “new politics” slogan, but also shifted his focus to a more distant goal -- next year’s presidential race.

But his retreat left his party with a leadership vacuum from the very first month of the new parliamentary term, hindering the rookie opposition party from making its presence felt.

“I will make my best efforts as an ordinary member of the party,” Ahn told reporters Thursday at a policy workshop, making his first public appearance since his resignation.

He also attended the parliamentary committee meeting on education, culture, sports and tourism, signaling that he would continue his regular legislative activities.

Despite his humble gesture, however, his resignation was also widely considered an opportunity to consolidate his position as one of the top presidential hopefuls.

“(We) should have responded more resolutely to the two (disputed) lawmakers,” he said at the Supreme Council meeting, prior to announcing his resignation.

“I have always resented the way that conventional parties handled corruption scandals and do not want to echo their behavior.”

Ahn and his cochief Rep. Chun Jung-bae stepped down from their leadership posts on Wednesday, taking responsibility for a widening kickback scandal involving some key party members.

“Politics is about taking responsibility, which is why (German sociologist) Max Weber underlined ethical responsibility,” Ahn said, responding to previous criticisms that he had failed to stay true to his slogan of new politics.

On the day before Ahn’s resignation, the party had shelved the sanctions against the proportional representatives in question -- Reps. Kim Su-min and Park Sun-sook -- to await prosecutorial indictment. The decision, though based on the party’s constitution, drew bitter responses.

Adding to the pressure was his close ties with Rep. Park, who was not only the party’s secretary-general and chief campaign strategist, but also one of the closest aides to Ahn since his political debut in 2012.

Stepping down was thus considered the only plausible option left for Ahn, who has his eyes set on the presidential election slated for December 2017. His popularity ratings, according to local pollster Realmeter, stood at 12.8 percent this week, trailing U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and main opposition hopeful Moon Jae-in.

Relieved from the political duties as party founder and initial leader, Ahn is expected to henceforth focus on his individual career as a lawmaker.

So far in the current parliament, Ahn‘s legislative achievements have been limited to the proposal of a fair growth bill, which seeks to alleviate tax burdens for venture firms. Ahn was a venture businessman and the developer of a computer antivirus program before he stepped into politics.

Some, however, had sought to dissuade him from stepping down, citing the impeding leadership vacuum.

“Our priority is to deal with the given circumstances, not to escape from them,” said Rep. Park Joo-sun, the Supreme Council member and parliamentary vice speaker. But it was Ahn himself who refused to compromise.

The resignation of the cochiefs left floor leader Rep. Park Jie-won in charge. Park was appointed to lead the party’s emergency committee until new leadership is elected.

The party thus entered the same leaderless state as the two leading parties, both of which are to be steered by their respective emergency committees until their upcoming national convention.

The ruling conservative Saenuri Party, after failing to establish a new leadership in the wake of the April 13 general election defeat, has brought in former Constitutional Court Justice Kim Hee-ok as its interim leader. The Minjoo Party of Korea has been led by conservative economic adviser Kim Chong-in ever since former party chief Moon Jae-in stepped down in an effort to end factional feuding within the party.

(tellme@heraldcorp.com)