Can Moon make friends with Ahn?

A supporter of former independent candidate Ahn Cheol-soo holds a sign pleading for him to return to the presidential race at what had been his campaign office in Gongpyeong-dong, Seoul, Sunday. After talks with Democratic United Party candidate Moon Jae-in to merge candidacies fell through, Ahn announced he was dropping out of the race on Friday. / Yonhap

Software mogul remains crucial factor in election

Ahn Cheol-soo’s possible support for Moon Jae-in of the Democratic United Party (DUP) is significant in influencing voters in the Dec. 19 election after his abrupt withdrawal of his presidential bid, Friday.

He is politically moderate and his stance could change the mindset of undecided voters who are left with the option of the conservative Park Geun-hye of the ruling Saenuri Party or the liberal Moon.

The popularity of Ahn, a software mogul-turned-politician, was mainly among people between their 20s and 40s, and liberals who claimed they were tired of “outdated” politics practiced by the conventional parties. Pollsters since Friday have shown independent Ahn is still capable of being a game changer though he is out of the presidential race.

On Saturday, some 18.1 percent of 1,000 voters who took part in a public opinion poll responded they were “undecided” in their support for the remaining candidates.

The survey was conducted by Seoul Broadcasting System and TNS to observe the aftereffect of Ahn’s withdrawal following persistent disharmony between him and Moon in merging their candidacies to defeat Park.

Park garnered 43.4 percent to lead Moon with 37.6 percent in the poll with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percent.

Of the respondents who identified themselves as Ahn followers, 51.8 percent threw their support behind Moon while 24.2 percent opted for Park. However, 22.5 percent of them said they were “undecided,” or gave no response.

Other polls showed similar results. In a survey on the same day taken by MBC and Hankook Research, 45.3 percent of Ahn’s supporters answered they would vote for Moon while 16.9 percent leaned toward Park. Some 31.6 of the respondents said, “They need time to make a decision,” while 5.7 percent said they would not cast ballots on election day.

Of respondents in the SBS and TNS survey, 89.7 percent said they will vote, with 15.5 percent of them saying that their favored candidate could change.

According to experts, such results indicate the importance of Ahn’s role in drawing support from undecided voters as well as those who are now inevitably behind either Moon or Park.

“It’s possible a certain number of Ahn’s supporters could lean toward Park, while some others who are tired of the current politicians may not vote,” Lee Jun-han, a political science and international studies professor at the University of Incheon, said Sunday. “With the clock ticking, the number of undecided voters, however, is likely to decline if Ahn throws his support behind Moon.”

Questions have been raised whether Ahn would back the DUP contender as he did with Seoul mayor Park Won-soon after withdrawing his candidacy ahead of a by-election in October 2011.

Observers speculate it will not be the case this time, as the former independent candidate has not made any moves in favor of Moon since he gave up his presidential bid.

“From now on, Moon Jae-in is the single candidate (between me and him). I should take all the blame for disharmony in merging candidacies and please throw your support behind Moon,” Ahn said while fighting tears on Friday.

He is reportedly taking a break since his announcement, a contrasting move from last year. He held a joint press conference with then-liberal candidate Park Won-soon to announce his withdrawal from the Seoul mayoral by-election and explicitly said he would support Park.

“I think Ahn’s trust in Moon has been broken as the DUP candidate’s aides kept criticizing him during their efforts to join forces,” one of Ahn’s election campaign officials said.

Both the Saenuri Party and the DUP have made efforts to embrace Ahn’s followers by giving credit to his decision Friday.

“I will never forget his tears, as I am responsible for his emotional response,” Moon said on Sunday. “Before I thank him for helping me to become the single candidate, I have to say I owe him so much.”

He then called for an alliance among all liberal voters, especially the supporters of Ahn, to prevent conservatives from retaining the country’s most powerful office.

Moon also proposed Ahn join his presidential bid, saying he would form a totally new campaign apparatus composed of key figures from both Ahn’s and his camps. Ranking members of Moon’s bid declared the dissolution of their campaign body Saturday to pave the way for Ahn supporters to join them.

The Saenuri Party also praised Ahn.

“We pay respect to people’s desire for political reform, and Ahn has taken all the risks to be a politician to fulfill such a demand,” Ahn Hyung-hwan, a Saenuri spokesman, said Saturday. “And Moon and the DUP should make a sincere apology to Ahn Cheol-soo and his supporters for putting pressure on him to withdraw.”

The spokesman’s comment on Ahn was in stark contrast from a previous remark on Nov. 7 by Lee Cheol-woo, another spokesman.

“A number of rumors and suspicions on the independent candidate are prevailing that he will eventually drop out of the presidential race,” he said back then. <The Korea Times/Yi Whan-woo>