Stubborn Sohn Hak-kyu... 'Self-Expulsion' Not Allowed Under Party Constitution and Rules

Expulsion of National Assembly Member 'Ethics Committee Discipline → Party Meeting Vote'
Son Controls Ethics Committee, Passage Difficult
Acceleration of Merger with Alternative New Party and Democratic Peace Party

Son Hak-kyu, leader of the Bareunmirae Party, is attending the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the 3rd and delivering a speech. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] Sohn Hak-kyu, leader of the Bareunmirae Party, is replacing appointed supreme council members and the secretary-general with close aides from outside the National Assembly and accelerating the integration with Honam-based parties such as the Alternative New Party and the Party for Democracy and Peace. This expresses his determination not to step down despite the defection of his closest aide, Rep. Lee Chan-yeol, and the collective resignation threat from pro-party faction lawmakers. While pro-party faction and Ahn Cheol-soo-aligned proportional representation lawmakers have announced plans to 'self-expel,' this appears to be impossible under the party constitution and regulations.

At the supreme council meeting held at the National Assembly on the 5th, Sohn said regarding the replacement of appointed supreme council members and the secretary-general, "There are now 70 days left until the general election. We must comprehensively reorganize the party system to prepare for the election, and normalizing party affairs is urgent." He added, "We can no longer continue a situation where important matters cannot be resolved because the supreme council meetings are not held." Sohn also said, "We expect visible results soon by accelerating the integration with the Alternative New Party and the Party for Democracy and Peace," and "Once that and the overall integration of the future generation are achieved, my role will be over." Sohn's move is considered the only card to prevent the defection of Honam-based lawmakers within the party and to save the party.

The pro-party faction lawmakers have issued an ultimatum to Sohn, stating that if he does not resign by the 10th, they will collectively defect. Their plan is for constituency lawmakers to defect first, followed by proportional representation lawmakers self-expelling later. Currently, the Bareunmirae Party holds a total of 19 seats: 6 constituency seats and 13 proportional representation seats. If the pro-party faction and Ahn Cheol-soo faction unite, they can easily secure the two-thirds majority of members present at the party meeting required for self-expulsion.

The problem lies in procedural defects in the party constitution and regulations. In the case of expelling a member of the National Assembly, the process requires "disciplinary action by the Ethics Committee → expulsion by the party meeting." Since Sohn currently controls the Ethics Committee, the expulsion procedure through the Ethics Committee will not proceed. Ultimately, even if lawmakers expel members through the party meeting, they will face legal legitimacy issues. According to the party constitution and regulations, expulsion of a National Assembly member who is a party member requires the Ethics Committee to review, decide, and confirm disciplinary action, followed by approval from at least two-thirds of the members present at the party meeting.

The pro-party faction and Ahn Cheol-soo faction lawmakers cite the 2012 self-expulsion of proportional representation lawmakers from the Unified Progressive Party as an example. However, the Unified Progressive Party completed all expulsion procedures according to the party constitution and regulations through disciplinary decisions by the party flag committee and a vote at the party meeting. This is completely different from the current Bareunmirae Party situation, which intends to bypass the Ethics Committee. When former People's Party leader Ahn Cheol-soo pursued integration with the Bareun Party in 2018, the self-expulsion issue also arose. At that time, some proportional representation lawmakers opposed the integration and insisted on self-expulsion through approval by two-thirds of National Assembly members, but the regulation requiring disciplinary action by the Ethics Tribunal blocked this.

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