Young PPP leader should usher in new politics
The election of Lee Jun-seok, a 36-year-old politician, as the chairman of the main conservative opposition People Power Party (PPP) is surprising but welcome. He has become the youngest-ever leader of a mainstream party since the establishment of the Republic of Korea in 1948. This signals a generational change not only in his own party, but also in the country’s politics.
On Friday, Lee won 43.8 percent of the votes in the leadership race, defeating four senior rivals, including Na Kyung-won, a former four-term lawmaker and floor leader who received 37.1 percent of the ballots. Five-term lawmaker Joo Ho-young ranked third with 14 percent. Seventy percent of the total votes were cast by party members, while the remaining 30 percent were cast by citizens.
Lee scored 58.8 percent in the citizens’ vote, compared to 28.3 percent won by Na, the runner-up. This means that Lee won the victory with the help of non-party voters calling for drastic change and reform of the PPP. It also can be said that Lee’s triumph reflected young voters’ frustration with the political establishment marred by partisan struggles and corruption.
In fact, Lee, a former member of the PPP’s Supreme Council, has been basking in the spotlight since the preliminary leadership contest began in late May. He led the race by stirring up a strong wind of generational change in his party. His strategy worked by appealing to young voters in their 20s and 30s who are fed up with old-style politics and want to see far-reaching political reforms. Now he should comply with their aspiration for change.
First of all, the new chairman with no experience as a lawmaker needs to exercise his leadership to the best of his ability. As he said in his acceptance speech, Lee’s foremost task is to steer the party toward a victory in the next presidential election set for March 9, 2022. He should bring all of its members together to rebuild the conservative party which has been reeling from the impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye, ex-leader of one of the PPP’s predecessors.
It is necessary for him to ensure fair and free competition to choose the party’s presidential candidate. He must work hard to attract strong presidential favorites, including former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl, into the PPP. He also needs to address the issue of merging with the minor conservative opposition People’s Party, led by Ahn Cheol-soo.
Lee’s ascent to the PPP’s leadership came after the party won a landslide victory in the April 7 mayoral by-elections in Seoul and Busan. The win, however, was not because the PPP performed well, but because the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) made a set of policy mistakes and lost the public’s trust. For this reason, the opposition party should make concerted efforts to win over the hearts and minds of the people, especially the young generation, by presenting new visions of the future.
Most of all, Lee and his party must do their best to promote the values of fairness and justice which have been undermined by the Moon Jae-in government and the DPK, especially due to rampant property speculation by civil servants and lawmakers. Fort its part, the DPK should also go all-out to regain public trust by abandoning its unilateralism and hypocrisy.
We hope that Lee’s election will usher in a new era of politics in Korea. None of the parties and politicians can survive unless they change and end outdated politics characterized by partisanship, regional animosity and ideological division. We have many reasons why Lee’s political experiment should produce successful results.
The election of Lee Jun-seok, a 36-year-old politician, as the chairman of the main conservative opposition People Power Party (PPP) is surprising but welcome. He has become the youngest-ever leader of a mainstream party since the establishment of the Republic of Korea in 1948. This signals a generational change not only in his own party, but also in the country’s politics.
On Friday, Lee won 43.8 percent of the votes in the leadership race, defeating four senior rivals, including Na Kyung-won, a former four-term lawmaker and floor leader who received 37.1 percent of the ballots. Five-term lawmaker Joo Ho-young ranked third with 14 percent. Seventy percent of the total votes were cast by party members, while the remaining 30 percent were cast by citizens.
Lee scored 58.8 percent in the citizens’ vote, compared to 28.3 percent won by Na, the runner-up. This means that Lee won the victory with the help of non-party voters calling for drastic change and reform of the PPP. It also can be said that Lee’s triumph reflected young voters’ frustration with the political establishment marred by partisan struggles and corruption.
In fact, Lee, a former member of the PPP’s Supreme Council, has been basking in the spotlight since the preliminary leadership contest began in late May. He led the race by stirring up a strong wind of generational change in his party. His strategy worked by appealing to young voters in their 20s and 30s who are fed up with old-style politics and want to see far-reaching political reforms. Now he should comply with their aspiration for change.
First of all, the new chairman with no experience as a lawmaker needs to exercise his leadership to the best of his ability. As he said in his acceptance speech, Lee’s foremost task is to steer the party toward a victory in the next presidential election set for March 9, 2022. He should bring all of its members together to rebuild the conservative party which has been reeling from the impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye, ex-leader of one of the PPP’s predecessors.
It is necessary for him to ensure fair and free competition to choose the party’s presidential candidate. He must work hard to attract strong presidential favorites, including former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl, into the PPP. He also needs to address the issue of merging with the minor conservative opposition People’s Party, led by Ahn Cheol-soo.
Lee’s ascent to the PPP’s leadership came after the party won a landslide victory in the April 7 mayoral by-elections in Seoul and Busan. The win, however, was not because the PPP performed well, but because the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) made a set of policy mistakes and lost the public’s trust. For this reason, the opposition party should make concerted efforts to win over the hearts and minds of the people, especially the young generation, by presenting new visions of the future.
Most of all, Lee and his party must do their best to promote the values of fairness and justice which have been undermined by the Moon Jae-in government and the DPK, especially due to rampant property speculation by civil servants and lawmakers. Fort its part, the DPK should also go all-out to regain public trust by abandoning its unilateralism and hypocrisy.
We hope that Lee’s election will usher in a new era of politics in Korea. None of the parties and politicians can survive unless they change and end outdated politics characterized by partisanship, regional animosity and ideological division. We have many reasons why Lee’s political experiment should produce successful results.
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