EDITORIAL from the Korea Times on July 28

(2) () Alliance of opposition The liberal Democratic Party and smaller, progressive opposition parties formed an alliance and won over the governing Grand National Party in local elections last year. The focus of concern now is on whether they will be able to repeat it in parliamentary and presidential polls next year. Bluntly, the odds should be 50-50 at best, considering the wide difference in party lines as well as complex conflicts of interests in electoral politics. One has only to look at the snail-paced progress in the ``grand integration of opposition??? initiated by DP Chairman Sohn Hak-kyu. It was meaningful in this regard that 21 representatives of civic groups, religious circles and other liberal and progressive organizations met in the Hope 2013, Victory 2012 Roundtable Conference Tuesday. Especially notable was their putting 2013 ahead of the election year of 2012, to emphasize their ultimate goal is not just winning in elections or the change of government but presenting visions and values in ``post-MB (Lee Myung-bak)??? days. Of course, there will be no way to open a new era without an election victory. It is also true, however, the opposition cannot win at the polls if they fail to envision a new Korea. The participants pictured a nation in which the average Korean???s right to lead a decent life with basic welfare and dignity guaranteed will not be compromised by excessive developmentalism. They also called for a nation that rewards hard-working people better than asset-amassing speculators who live on dividends and interests, and placing job-creating small- and medium-sized enterprises ahead of conglomerates that leave little breathing room for their smaller competitors. These points may be able to win the hearts of voters, who elected the incumbent administration mainly for better lives economically only to see their hopes quashed by its neo-liberalistic policy, which is advantageous for big businesses and wealthy individuals. Yet there is a big precondition for the success of the opposition???s strategy: they should unite as one as they have done in local polls. It will be far easier said than done in general and presidential elections. Even the two progressive parties ??? the Democratic Labor Party and New Progressive Party ??? are experiencing difficulties going back to a single party mainly because of their differences in viewing North Korea. The two leftist parties also sharply differ in possible mergers with the liberal, left-of-center Democratic Party. All this shows integrating all opposition parties into one large group will be next to impossible. Instead, the two progressive parties should merge into one and form an election alliance with the relatively more centrist DP. A prerequisite in this process is to show perfect cooperation in fielding the strongest contenders in the parliamentary polls apart from their party affiliations. There is a long way to go for the oppositionists to iron out ideological and electoral differences and form a united front. Nor is there much time, as registration will start in December for preliminary candidates for parliamentary polls. Voters will watch intently whether the roundtable conference can play the role of catalyst for the difficult but worthy process.