PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE
Ahn himself had ambitions to be president: He ran in 2022, but dropped out and supported Yoon just a week before the election, with his support proving crucial in the neck-and-neck poll, which Yoon won by the narrowest margin in South Korean history.
His party merged with the PPP, but Ahn now finds himself at odds with his parliamentary colleagues, who are officially calling for an “orderly exit” for Yoon – but in reality, experts say, trying to buy time ahead of an election they’re likely to lose.
The PPP blocked impeachment, saying that Yoon had agreed to step down at some unspecified point in the future, with the country to be run by the prime minister and party chief in the interim.
But Ahn insists this is insufficient.
“I had expected Yoon to announce when and how he would resign and to detail plans for the formation of a joint governing body with ruling and opposition parties,” he told AFP.
“Instead, he handed everything over to the ruling party,” he said.
Without a clear roadmap from either the president or his party, “I concluded I had no choice but to support impeachment”.
Ahn said he would vote for impeachment again.
“According to the constitution, each MP is a constitutional agent. Voting according to one’s conscience, even if it goes against the party’s official stance, takes precedence.”
Yoon has lost the confidence of not only the South Korean public but also international allies, leaving him “incapable of continuing his duties as president”, Ahn said.
“He must personally explain when and how he intends to resign.”
