Ahn Dong-seop: "Will Create Hopeful Gyeonggi Province"

Ahn Dong-seop, Chair of the Democratic Labor Party's Gyeonggi Provincial Committee, announced his candidacy for the Gyeonggi provincial governor election.

Chair Ahn held a press conference on the afternoon of the 24th in the Gyeonggi Provincial Assembly Briefing Room, declaring, "I will make the June 2 local elections a venue for judgment on the Lee Myung-bak Grand National Party administration," throwing his hat into the ring. Chair Ahn stated, "I will correct the bulldozer-style politics and arrogant governance in Gyeonggi Province where those close to Lee face no consequences for their wrongdoings, while those not close to Lee are blamed for crimes they did not commit."

He said, "The Lee Myung-bak Grand National Party administration opposes free school meals, opposes expanding welfare budgets for ordinary citizens, opposes the Sejong City plan, and ignores people's livelihoods by unconditionally opposing everything unless it suits the Blue House's preference. I will change this administration starting in Gyeonggi Province," and promised, "I will expose the failures of Governor Kim Moon-soo, who has pursued Gyeonggi policies aimed at currying favor for presidential ambitions rather than improving residents' quality of life, and will create new hope together with the provincial residents."

He also stated, "In the June 2 local elections, the five opposition parties including the Democratic Labor Party and the civic society sector should find more common ground rather than highlight differences with each other," emphasizing, "To do that, we must seek common policies and further unitize our candidates."

Therefore, he said, "The gubernatorial candidates from each party—the Democratic Party, the Creative Korea Party, the Citizens' Coalition Party, and the Progressive Justice Party—should promptly form a joint policy consultation body of the five Gyeonggi opposition parties through civic society participation to guarantee free school meals, realize welfare for ordinary citizens, and prepare groundwork for peaceful reunification," and proposed, "To achieve this, let us form a Gyeonggi 5+1 negotiation conference in parallel with the 5+4 cooperation conference being pursued at the national party level and pursue candidate unitization by mid-April."