[Editorial] Challenges for new PPP leader Kim Gi-hyeon

Rep. Kim Gi-hyeon, a former floor leader of the People Power Party (PPP), was elected new leader of the governing party in a national convention on Wednesday. Kim, a loyalist to President Yoon Suk Yeol, won 52.93 percent of the votes cast to finish off the race with no need for a runoff. Other pro-Yoon candidates also swept the race for the five-member supreme council, which reflects PPP members' hope for the president to run the government with full support from the party. The record high turnout of 55.1 percent also shows their support for the president.

There were many twists and turns in the lead-up to Kim’s victory. Unstoppable was an internal conflict over the change of party rules to only counting party members' votes to pick a new leader, the mysterious withdrawal of another former floor leader from the race, and the presidential office’s alleged intervention in the race.

The race was inundated with negative attacks against rivals. Starting with a candidate finding fault with Kim’s suspicious purchase of land in Ulsan, where he once served as mayor, the race was full of unceasing slanders. The time has come for the new chairman to first address those internal scars. Given the overwhelming support the new leader received from pro-Yoon members of the party, the support rate for Kim — barely over 50 percent — is not so promising. As the surprising support rate — 15 percent — for a maverick political rookie in his 30s suggests, the new PPP chairman must embrace his opponents in the party to reflect their desire to reshape the conservative party.

The toughest job for Kim is to reinstate the PPP as a party befitting its role as the governing party. A number of conservative voters turned their backs on a party always fraught with internal battles and fighting over loyalty to the president. The new leader must help change that.

Also challenging for Kim is to restore the dialogue and cooperation with the Democratic Party to overcome the economic crisis and improve people’s lives. That demands he establish an effective mechanism to tackle such challenges through close communication with the government and the majority opposition holding 169 seats in the 300-member legislature. Unless Kim steps down voluntarily, he is expected to command campaigns for the upcoming parliamentary elections in April next year.

Of course, victory in the election will be important for him. But his approach to the election triumph is also important. We hope the new PPP leader will abandon vested interest of political circles to help change the winner-take-all paradigm.