Heading for doom shortly after the launch

The New Reform Party is staggering from the start after being launched to court votes from the moderates or swing voters who are increasingly disgusted by the perennial political battle between the two mainstream parties — the governing People Power Party (PPP) and the majority Democratic Party (DP). The instability originates with the conflict between the party’s co-chairs Lee Jun-seok and Lee Nak-yon over whether to allow Bae Bok-joo, former deputy head of the splinter Justice Party, to join the new party. Lee Jun-seok strongly criticized Solidarity Against Disability Discrimination for its methodical protest on the subway during the commuting hours, but Bae heartily advocated for the civic group.

As a result, Lee Jun-seok demanded the party not nominate Bae in the April 10 parliamentary elections. Lee Nak-yon opposed the move, claiming that such a bias violates the principle of democracy. Additional friction comes from the leaders’ sharp difference over who should have the exclusive authority to field candidates for the election. After Rep. Kim Jong-min, an ally to Lee Nak-yon, denounced Lee Jun-seok for “breaking the spirit of integration,” Kim Yong-nam, a representative for Lee Jun-seok, refuted it immediately.

The weird merger of the four disparate political groups — including Lee Jun-seok’s New Reform Party and Lee Nak-yon’s New Choice — 10 days ago reflects a critical lack of common ground among them. The upcoming legislative election offers fertile ground for voters’ aspiration for a third party, given the critical dearth of public support for the PPP and the DP as well as some voters’ antipathy towards President Yoon Suk Yeol and DP leader Lee Jae-myung.

The two co-chairs of the new party appear to have ignored their unbridgeable ideological gap. They rushed to merge their parties to fight against the government without integrating party lines. The new party must listen to the criticism that it failed to show innovative politics in sharp contrast with the old-fashioned two mainstream parties. It is time for the two Lees to demonstrate mature political skills and embody the spirit of merger.

In a recent Gallup Korea poll, the PPP’s approval rating stood at 37 percent, the DP’s at 31 percent, and the new party’s at 4 percent. (24 percent didn’t support any of those parties.) The numbers indicate that the new party’s strategy does not work. Voters are sick and tired of the persistent factional battles between the two major parties. If the new party follows in their footsteps, it will perish soon. It must return to the beginning and show genuinely refreshing politics. Otherwise, it cannot win the votes it desperately needs.