‘Son Associate’ Lee Chan-yeol Leaves Bareunmirae Party... Proportional Representation Self-Resignation? Controversy Over Changing Statements (Summary)

Factions vie for party leadership amid ongoing defections
Criticism over self-serving interpretations of party rules
Initial call for proportional representative expulsion requires Ethics Committee review

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] On the 4th, Rep. Lee Chan-yeol, a close aide of Representative Sohn Hak-kyu, left the Bareunmirae Party. Amid predictions of a 'mass resignation' by the pro-party faction, attention is focused on whether this will actually lead to a chain resignation. The pro-party faction has stated that if Representative Sohn insists on refusing to resign, constituency lawmakers will resign first, followed by proportional representation lawmakers self-expelling later. However, in this case, it is expected to be difficult to avoid criticism that the party constitution and regulations are being interpreted in a self-serving manner.

Rep. Lee said in a press release on the same day, “Three years ago, when I joined the predecessor of the Bareunmirae Party, the People’s Party, I devoted myself entirely to the development of the party. But now it seems to have reached its limit,” adding, “Today, I will leave the Bareunmirae Party and head into the frozen wilderness.” He continued, “Who can I blame? It’s all my fault,” and said, “I feel indescribable emotions for not being able to stay with Representative Sohn until the end.”

With this resignation, the Bareunmirae Party’s total seats have dropped to 19, losing its status as a parliamentary negotiation group. Among these, 6 are constituency seats and 13 are proportional representation seats. For now, the Honam faction constituency lawmakers are expected to resign first, and then when the pro-party faction and Ahn Cheol-soo faction proportional representation lawmakers hold a party meeting, securing two-thirds for self-expulsion is sufficiently possible. However, legal controversies regarding the party constitution and regulations are expected to be unavoidable.

According to the party constitution and regulations, disciplinary actions are classified as expulsion, suspension of party membership rights, removal from party positions, suspension of party duties, and warnings, and the Ethics Committee is responsible for review, resolution, and confirmation. Expulsion of party members who are National Assembly members requires, in addition to this procedure, approval by two-thirds of the total members present at a party meeting.

Initially, the pro-party faction argued that in the party conflict situation, expulsion of proportional representation members must go through Ethics Committee discipline and party meeting expulsion. This is because Ahn Cheol-soo faction lawmakers had been demanding expulsion through emergency actions for change and innovation. According to the National Assembly Act, proportional representation members lose their seats if they voluntarily resign from the party. However, this time, when the pro-party faction themselves opposed Representative Sohn, they changed their stance. A pro-party faction lawmaker claimed in response to such criticism, “Actually, (expulsion of proportional representation members) can be done at the party meeting.”

Earlier, pro-party faction lawmakers and key party officials requested Representative Sohn to switch to an emergency committee system, but it was not accepted. Then, from the 3rd, they began a full boycott of the Supreme Council. On the 3rd, Representative Sohn criticized, “It is regrettable that the party’s key executives refused to come to work as part of the party power struggle,” and said, “At a time when we should be fully focused on preparing for the general election, neglect of duties by political party officials cannot be tolerated.” Representative Sohn added, “The party should unite in difficult times, not head down the path of division,” and said, “If they do not return immediately, appropriate measures will be taken.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.