Controversy over composition of NPAD`s special committee

The main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy’s emergency committee led by Rep. Moon Hee-sang is under controversy due to the composition of its members who are primarily from the pro-Roh Moo-hyun faction since its launch. Rep. Moon Jae-in, the effective leader of the pro-Roh faction, and Rep. Chung Sey-kyun, who is considered a member of a broader pro-Roh group, have joined the committee, but moderate politicians have been excluded from it.

Rep. Cho Kyung-tae told a radio interview on Tuesday, “The current emergency committee is merely a proxy of pro-Roh and hardline politicians. The foremost priority problem that our party should eradicate is to drive out pro-Roh hardliners, who effectively have formed a hegemonic force.” At Monday`s press conference, he directly took aim at the "pro-Roh faction.” “The hegemonic force of a certain faction causes serious moral hazard,” he said. “The look of the party that sides with pro-Roh and hardline members has no future. We should comprehensively and destructively recreate (the party).”

In a radio talk show, Rep. Kim Young-hwan, a moderate politician, also criticized the emergency committee led by Moon Hee-sang, saying, “Is it a tribal country in Africa? It is vowing to dismantle factional politics after appointing heads of a faction.” “As Rep. Moon Jae-in (emergency committee member) steps forward under the emergency committee system led by Moon Hee-sang, the committee has become a "Moon-Moon system, or two Moon system, said Kim. "The committee only consists of pro-Roh hardline members.”

Reps. Kim Sung-gon, Kim Dong-cheol, and Yoo Sung-yup who are members of the moderate group of “club envisioning the Democratic Party’s seizing of power," met with Chairman Moon and raised problems in composition and operation of the committee, and demanded moderate politicians’ participation in the committee. On moderate lawmakers’ representation in the committee, Moon reportedly said, “Let’s examine when time is appropriate.”

In a luncheon with Chairman Moon Hee-sang on the day, members of the pro-Kim Dae-jung faction including executive advisor Kwon Roh-kap also suggested that additional moderate politicians should be injected into the committee. Kwon told the party leader, “The Democratic Party was a political party of moderates and rightists in the first place, and you know better than anyone else the importance of the moderate group.” Positively responding to the advice, Moon reportedly said, “It was internally agreed that the committee would be formed only with incumbent lawmakers."

Former lawmaker Lee Hoon-pyeong said, “Rep. Cho Kyung-tae, who served as a supreme council member and three-term lawmaker from Busan, is an appropriate member of the committee.”