Opposition ethics panel fallout continues to roil PPP
'Better to build a new house than shake this one'
People Power Party lawmaker Ahn Cheol-soo on Thursday lashed out at the renewed push to readmit independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon to the party, asking, "Are we all going to drown together in the river of rejoining?"
In a Facebook post that day, Ahn criticized what he called simultaneous pressure from inside and outside the party to revive the readmission debate, saying it was happening just as "Lee Jae Myung's Democratic Party has begun in earnest its attempts to drop charges and pursue fabricated indictments, and the opposition is mounting an all-out effort to stop them."
The controversy reignited Wednesday after PPP ethics committee member Hwang Gyeong-seong claimed the disciplinary action taken against Han had been fabricated, triggering a direct clash between pro-Han lawmakers and the party leadership. Ahn responded sharply, saying the pro-readmission camp appeared to have "latched onto the single phrase 'fabricated discipline' and kicked up a fuss, when they might have calmly waited to see whether Hwang's announced revelations carry any credibility."
Ahn said the party had "gone through turmoil over the party member bulletin board issue since the start of the year," and that after 10 months of twists and turns, it had "finally created an opportunity to stand up against the Lee Jae Myung administration."
"And now we face the risk of drowning again in the river of rejoining," he said, adding that "every time readmission comes up, it swallows all other issues — conservative unity, the fight against the ruling party, livelihood policy."
Ahn also said the Lee government's failures — "dropping charges, fabricated indictments, a collapse in national security, a share price crash, rising housing costs" — were being pushed out of the spotlight. He noted that "only two days have passed" since the party staged a filibuster, a rally outside Gyeongbokgung, a general assembly in front of Cheong Wa Dae, and one-person protests.
Turning directly to the readmission debate, Ahn questioned whether "at this critical juncture, we really need to be shining a light on readmission and fabricated expulsion," and asked, "What else would you call dragging the conservative right and all PPP members into the river of rejoining to drown — if not the behavior of a water ghost pulling others down with it?"
"The only side that benefits as the river of rejoining overflows is Lee Jae Myung's Democratic Party," he said, and went on to say: "I would rather they just start a new party. Instead of shaking the house and demanding the door be opened, the answer is to build a new house of your own."
raining@heraldcorp.com
