Independent lawmaker Ahn Cheol-soo (54) launched the Party Establishment Preparatory Committee of his "Party of the People (Gukminuidang)" on January 10.

It was practically the official opening of "new politics, season 2." But Ahn remains ambiguous on his stance on pressing issues and he has placed existing figures rather than fresh faces in the front, leading to questions about the truth of Ahn Cheol-soo's "new politics."

■ "Declaration of the End of an Irresponsible Two-Party System"

The preparatory committee of the "Party of the People" announced, "We declare the end of an old and incompetent two-party system, an irresponsible two-party system that led the way to national division," at the conference of party promoters held at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in Gwanghwamun, Seoul. They added, "For this we will close the age of unproductive ideological confrontation, regional conflicts, and national division, and open an era of alternative politics, politics looking after the people's lives, an everyday life politics that can embrace both the reflective progressives and the reformist conservatives."

Ahn has defined both the ruling and opposition parties as those with vested interests declaring his party as an alternative. He claimed to exert ideological flexibility with reasonable reforms that go beyond the old progressives and extreme conservatives.

More than 2,000 people including lawmaker Kim Han-gil, who left the Deobureo Minjudang, were listed as the party promoter. However former lawmakers Kim Seong-sik and Bak Seon-suk did not join this group. Ahn personally took over as the head of recruiting prominent members. Lawmaker Kwon Eun-hee, who left the Deobureo Minjudang on December 28, will join the “Party of the People” on January 11.

The party's preparatory committee will hold a nationwide municipal and provincial convention beginning January 21 and will hold the central party's inauguration ceremony on February 2. Ahn will visit the National Cemetery in Seoul and the May 18th National Cemetery in Gwangju on January 11 and visit former first lady Kwon Yang-sook after paying his respects at President Roh Moo-hyun's grave in Bongha Village in Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province on January 12.

■ Controversy over the Reality of "Reformist Politics"

Ahn's new political party is slowly taking shape, but it is off to a shaky start, as they take actions that do not fit the purpose of the party's establishment.

Instead of clearly stating his position on major issues, Ahn has remained ambiguous on most. His sometimes weak and sometimes strong stance on the comfort women negotiations between South Korea and Japan and his lack of a response to the South's resuming of loudspeaker broadcasts after North Korea's fourth nuclear test are typical examples. His vague attitude on important issues seem distant from his proposal of an alternative political party. He is concentrating on a strategy differentiating existing politics, which is defined as evil, from Ahn Cheol-soo, defined as good.P oliticians are criticizing him, saying, "Dividing sides without providing an alternative is just another bloc politics."

Ahn has also stumbled in recruiting more influential members. Lee Nam-ki, former commissioner of the Fair Trade Commission included in the list of party promoters, was once arrested for bribery of a third party while assessing SK Telecom's acquisition of KT shares in 2002.

On January 8, Ahn also withdrew his decision to recruit three of the five members he had decided to welcome as the first external figures to join the party less than three hours since he made the decision. The people in question were former district attorney Han Seung-cheol, former Defense Minister Kim Dong-shin, and former Agriculture Minister Huh Shin-haeng who were involved in an ethics controversy. It was a recruitment disaster caused by his dependence on old figures and regions (Honam). As many members from Deobureo Minjudang join the party, his dependence on that party has also climbed sharply.