People Power Party needs complete overhaul to recapture power
Less than a month after scoring landslide victories in the April 7 mayoral by-elections in Seoul and Busan, the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) is already showing signs of regression. As soon as the party's interim leader Kim Chong-in left the PPP after the elections, its senior legislators based in the country's southeastern Gyeongsang provinces began bickering with their younger colleagues over whether to seek special pardons for two former presidents ― and former members of the party ― serving prison terms on corruption charges.
During an interpellation session at the National Assembly, April 20, Suh Byung-soo, the five-term lawmaker of the conservative party, virtually denied the legitimacy of former President Park Geun-hye's impeachment, saying, “It's hard to believe whether she committed an illegal act so serious as to deserve impeachment.” During a luncheon meeting at Cheong Wa Dae the following day, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon and Busan Mayor Park Heong-joon asked President Moon Jae-to pardon the jailed presidents.
It appears to be necessary to consider granting pardons to Park and her predecessor Lee Myung-bak sooner than later for the sake of national unity. However, the PPP's hasty push for amnesty might give the impression that the party has become complacent after its by-election victories. Furthermore, this contradicts the former PPP interim leader's formal apology for the “mistakes” of the two ex-presidents last December. A recent poll conducted by RnSearch showed that 50.2 percent of respondents oppose amnesty, while 44.8 percent favor it ― an indicator that requires the PPP to be cautious in seeking this.
The PPP should remember that it won the mayoral by-elections not because it did well but because the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) did very poorly. To recapture power, the largest conservative opposition party needs a complete overhaul through a break from the past. This will enable the party to expand its support base among young and moderate voters. If not, the party's desire for government change next year might go up in smoke.