hankyoreh

the newly-elected chairman of a newly-formed party being called the People’s Participation Party

The People’s Participation Party, founded by core members of the Roh Moo-hyun administration, held its inaugural convention at Jangchung Gymnasium in Seoul on Jan. 17.

The People’s Participation Party (PPP) selected former Unification Minister Lee Jae-jung as the chairman who was the sole candidate for the position at the inaugural convention with three thousand participants. The participants flew yellow paper planes which were symbol of late President Roh Moo-hyun. Many former Cheong Wa Dae (the presidential office in South Korea or Blue House) secretaries from the Roh administration were selected as supreme council members of the party.

Lee Jae-jung, the newly-elected chairman, emphasized the succession of Roh Moo-hyun’s sprit in saying, “We are faced with the situation of collapsing democratic principles.” Lee added, “We have founded a new party with the resolution that we should correct histroy’s tragedies as citizens who are aware of the lesson learned from late President Roh.”

The PPP announced six principles as its platform, which include participatory democracy, overcoming regionalism and forming open political alliances, social investment focusing on human beings, balanced development and social integration, preparation for peace and prosperity on the Korean peninsula and the pursuit of a green and environmentally friendly society.

Political parties are closely watching the opening events for the PPP, because if citizens who participated in funeral service of late President Roh consider the party an alternative to the main opposition Democratic Party (DP), it could grow and become a core party at the June 2 regional elections.

The PPP has also stated a goal to become a national party by the June 2 regional elections by becoming a “second party” at Gyeongsang and Jella Provinces, which are strongholds of the ruling Grand National Party (GNP) and DP respectively. The party also hopes to gain significant support from the Seoul and Gyeonggi Provinces.

The party, however, in order to fulfill their goals will need to overcome the criticism that the founding of their party will actually aid the GNP during the June 2 regional elections by spliting the supporters of opposition parties. The DP issued a statement saying, “We are saddened at the news of the PPP’s inaugural convention of PPP, and although we are worried about the split between opposition parties, we see no difference between the PPP and our party.”

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