It’s being reported that Yoon Seok-youl, the presidential candidate from the People Power Party (PPP), is planning to form a joint government and merge with People Party’s presidential candidate Ahn Cheol-soo and Justice Party’s candidate Sim Sang-jung. A key official from the PPP said on the 16th, “Yoon is devising a plan to merge the opposition parties, with Ahn Cheol-soo as the Prime Minister of the joint government and Sim Sang-jung as the Minister of Employment and Labor.”
The opposition’s merger for a joint government plans for 9 of the 18 ministerial positions in the new cabinet to go to the PPP and the other 9 will reportedly go to anti-Moon camps including Ahn Cheol-soo and Sim Sang-jung.
According to the plan, Ahn Cheol-soo will be appointed as either Prime Minister or Minister of Economy and Finance and Sim Sang-jung will be offered a ministerial position from either labor, environment, or welfare.
Earlier, an official said, “This plan was presented to Ahn Cheol-soo. Although Ahn is currently insisting on having the people vote on how to merge the opposition parties, if Yoon makes such a proposal, we are confident that he will accept [this plan] and merge.”
Another official said, “Yoon is planning for the next ruling party to be in charge of political areas such as foreign affairs, security, and national defense, while other positions within the cabinet given to the joint opposition forces except for the DP.”
Currently, Yoon’s immediate goal is for a change in government. Yoon, who independently joined the PPP, must completely change the political sphere even after getting elected to stably carry out state affairs. For this, an overwhelming change in government is essential. Political experts believe that for such an overwhelming administrative change to happen, an anti-Lee Jae-myung joint government plan that even attracts Sim Sang-jung will be a valid proposal.
If the joint government-style merger of the opposition parties were to happen, it will be the worst-case scenario for the Lee Jae-myung camp and the DP. Although the Justice Party is classified as a pan-ruling party, they have lost their trust in the DP when the DP stabbed them in the back by forming their own proportional satellite party for the 2020 general election contrary to their promise. If an administrative change were to happen and the PPP, the People Party, and the Justice Party form a pan-governmental power as a joint government, the DP will remain the ‘lone opposition party’ even though it will be the majority of the National Assembly.
Meanwhile, Yoon visited the wake later that day to pay his respects to the deceased campaign workers connected to the People Party’s presidential candidate Ahn Cheol-soo. After concluding campaign events in Wonju, Gangwon-do, Yoon visited the funeral homes set up at Dankuk University Hospital and Soon Chun Hyang University Hospital to pay his respects. The wakes were private events, not open to the public.
Currently, both the PPP and the People Party are refraining from discussing political issues at this time out of respect to the deceased. However, it is known that the issue of merging the candidates has been discussed face-to-face between the two candidates. The fact that the two parties have recently become friendly also adds certainty to this observation.
The PPP expressed their condolences through official statements and has decided to temporarily suspend playing songs and dancing during campaign rallies. The election campaign committee explained, “There is no discussion on negotiating a merger at this time, but we want it to be known that we are trying to be respectful to both the families and the candidates.”
An official from the People Party stated, “It is not right to use [this time of mourning] for political gains,” but went on to add, “The party is grateful that Yoon has come to express his condolence.”
Original article: https://www.jayupress.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=2520
