Two opposition parties to merge ahead of new parliamentary term

SEOUL, May 26 (Yonhap) -- The minor opposition Future Korea Party (FKP) decided Tuesday to merge with its bigger sister party to form a united opposition front ahead of the 21st National Assembly's launch this week.

At a meeting of its lawmakers and lawmaker-elects, the FKP made the decision to merge with the United Future Party (UFP), the main opposition party.

The former was launched as a satellite organization of the UFP ahead of the April 15 parliamentary elections as part of the latter's election strategy to win more proportional representation seats. The parties won a combined 103 electoral and proportional representation seats.

"From its birth, the Future Korea Party has promised to return (to the umbrella party) after the April 15 elections. Now, the party is about to carry out the promise," the party said in a resolution adopted during the party meeting.

The party also pledged all-out reform efforts, saying, "We will boldly part with the old ways and come up with the kind of politics with which we relieve people's pain and dry their tears."

The merger of the two conservative parties came ahead of the start of the chamber's new four-year term Saturday.

Last week, the ruling Democratic Party merged with its sister organization, the Platform Party, solidifying its parliamentary majority with 177 seats.

pbr@yna.co.kr
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