Main opposition leader Rep. Moon Jae-in on Monday withdrew a self-imposed vote of confidence, pledging to conduct sweeping reforms to reunite the party mired in intensifying factional clashes.

Moon’s much-anticipated decision, which followed Sunday’s endorsement by mainstreamers, was seen to put a sour end to weeks of raucous infighting prompted by his press conference on Sept. 9 to stake his leadership on the New Politics Alliance for Democracy’s reform measures.

While praised by Moon and his followers, his renewed approbation was shunned or discounted by some key party figures and potential rivals, including former party whip Rep. Park Jie-won and former cochairmen Kim Han-gil and Ahn Cheol-soo.

Moon said he respected the decision made by a group of lawmakers and key members of the party to support him and urged the party to take the agreement as a chance to put an end to the factional feud and start afresh.

On Sunday, the NPAD’s executive committee had agreed to proclaim confidence in the chairman without a vote and demanded Moon’s dissenters stop questioning his leadership.

“I will withdraw my plan and humbly accept the loyalty (sworn by the party members). I will fulfill my responsibility to reform and reunite the party,” Moon said in a statement.

“I will also make efforts for the unity of the progressive blocs to win the general elections.”

Going forward, Moon is expected to speed up his efforts to dissolve factional feuds and seek ways to improve transparency in the party’s nomination rules in a dire attempt to restore the voters’ trust ahead of the general elections in April next year.

However, Moon’s decision, as well as the agreement reached by the mainstreamers, were slammed by some 20 members of the nonmainstream factions, who called the recent development a political show and a half-baked show of confidence.

Ahn, in particular, has been seeking to generate fresh momentum with supporters by hitting out at Moon and proposing alternative ways to reform the party. Rep. Chun Jung-bae, an NPAD-turned-independent lawmaker, also said on Sunday that he plans to launch a new party by January, saying that there is no future for the NPAD.

Moon, for his part, defended his decision and leadership.

On Ahn’s criticism about the party leadership showing double standards against corruption involving heavyweight figures, Moon countered by saying that the case of former Prime Minister Han Myung-sook, imprisoned for bribery, was a “clear case of a politically unfair” ruling, while speaking in a radio interview.

The chairman also expressed his displeasure with Rep. Chun’s plan of launching a new party, defining it as an attempt to divide the party that goes against the voters’ sentiment in the South Jeolla Province region, where the party holds a strong sway.

Chun lashed out at a news conference Sunday, saying he hoped Moon would “mind his own business” in response to the chairman’s request for him to rejoin the NPAD. On Monday, Moon rebuked him, saying it was rude to use such words.

By Cho Chung-un (christory@heraldcorp.com)