Ahn Cheol-soo Likely to Oppose 3-way Joint Leadership

Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo, a former co-chairman of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD), is expected to come up with an alternative plan to party Chairman Moon Jae-in's proposal to form a three-way joint leadership with Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon to prepare for next year's general election, his aides said, Friday.

"Ahn doesn't believe that the alliance of three presidential candidates will help the troubled party," his aide said. "He could possibly suggest reform measures of recruiting new figures or overcoming factional strife."

Moon proposed the alliance last week with Mayor Park and Rep. Ahn ahead of the upcoming general election, scheduled for April 13, 2016, amid rising demand to take responsibility for failing to reform the party by fellow lawmakers.

The non-mainstreamers of the party have argued that Moon step down because he has lost confidence, particularly in North and South Jeolla Province, the NPAD's political home turf that casts a big shadow over the results of the general election. In a recent poll, Moon garnered a 5 percent approval rating among the voters in the region.

Ahn also requested that Moon respond to the Ahn's vision he announced in September, in which he...