Ahn Cheol-soo's New Party Name Rejected Again... People’s Party Says "Election Commission Above the Law"

"“Ahn Cheol-soo's Political Comeback Obstructed... Immediately Allow the People Party”"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] The People's Party (tentative name), led by former lawmaker Ahn Cheol-soo, stated on the 13th, "Today, the National Election Commission prohibited the use of the party name because it is not clearly distinguishable from the People's New Party," and added, "The People's Party cannot accept this at all."

The Central Party Founding Preparation Committee of the People's Party said in a statement on the same day, "The Election Commission allowed the registration of the People's New Party's name in August 2017 while the People's Party existed," and questioned, "Is it reasonable and consistent with common sense and rationality to say that the People's Party and the People's New Party are not clearly distinguishable, while the People's Party and the People's New Party are clearly distinguishable?"

The Preparation Committee pointed out, "This is not the first time the Election Commission has taken a stance of 'it was right then but wrong now.' When judging the use of the party name by the Pro-Park Alliance, the Election Commission judged that as long as the formal requirements for party registration were met and the names were not similar, the use of the party name could not be restricted. However, when judging the use of the party name for Ahn Cheol-soo's new party, the Commission restricted its use based on various informal excuses amounting to legislative action. This is a clear overinterpretation and an attempt to override the law."

The Preparation Committee said, "This time, the Commission reversed its previous judgment that the People's Party and the People's New Party were not similar names and judged that the People's Party and the People's New Party are similar names," and criticized, "In fact, the People's Party and the People's Party seem to be similar names, but does the Commission not understand the simple logic that if A and B are distinguishable, then A' and B should also be distinguishable, or is it intentionally denying it?"

The Preparation Committee demanded, "The Commission should disclose in detail the resolution content on why it judged that the People's Party and the People's New Party were not similar parties when allowing the use of the People's New Party's name," and criticized, "Once may be a coincidence, but twice is inevitable. Does the Commission even have a fair standard now? We cannot dismiss the suspicion that the Commission is politically acting while trying to please the Blue House."

The Preparation Committee concluded, "Immediately allow the use of the People's Party name. The public is watching why the Commission is obstructing former lawmaker Ahn's political comeback, and what the intention and background are," and urged, "Return to the Commission's original role and restore neutrality. The public will not be deceived for long."

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