The Green Party Also Holds Member Vote... Progressive Proportional Election 'Alliance Party and Justice Party' Structure

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy reporters Park Cheol-eung and Kang Nahum] The Green Party has decided to hold a party member vote to determine whether to participate in a proportional representation coalition party, similar to the Democratic Party of Korea. The youth party Miraedang is also leaning toward participation and is in final discussions. The prospect of a coalition party involving minority parties such as the Democratic Party, Green Party, and Miraedang is becoming more tangible. Since the Justice Party has firmly stated it will not participate, the progressive proportional representation election may be divided into two blocs.

On the evening of the 11th, the Green Party held an emergency national executive committee meeting to discuss whether to decide on election coalition participation through a party-wide vote, and announced on the 12th that voting would be conducted over the 13th and 14th. The conditions require a majority turnout and two-thirds approval, with the voting period extendable until the 15th if turnout is low.

The political reform coalition, which is pushing for the coalition party, has proposed the Green Party’s top priority agenda, the "Climate Parliament," and offered conditions such as priority placement on the proportional representation list. The Democratic Party has already stated it will give priority ranking to minority parties and take lower rankings itself.

Miraedang had planned to officially announce participation through a joint press conference with the political reform coalition on the same day but decided to postpone it for further internal discussions. A Miraedang official said, "There are still some matters to check, so discussions are ongoing."

The Democratic Party is scheduled to hold a party member vote on the 12th and 13th but participation is highly likely. It has been confirmed through leadership meetings and parliamentary caucuses that the majority opinion favors participation. Leader Lee Hae-chan said at the previous day’s Supreme Council meeting, "The Democratic Party does not intend to gain even one more seat than what the election law allows," adding, "We will assign the top slots to minority parties and play a role from the lower slots."

The aim is to minimize the number of seats held by the satellite party of the United Future Party, Mirae Hangukdang, to prevent losing the position as the largest party, while preserving the purpose of the mixed-member proportional representation system to expand minority party seats. However, the Justice Party, the senior minority party, remains firmly opposed to participation.

On the previous day, Justice Party spokesperson Kang Min-jin criticized in a statement, "(The Democratic Party’s party-wide vote) ultimately abandons the principles of the mixed-member proportional representation system and expresses the intention to use a satellite party for proportional representation," adding, "Isn’t the party that loudly criticized the unconstitutional formation of Mirae Hangukdang ashamed at all?" Regarding the Minsheng Party, while members from the Bareunmiraedang faction oppose participation, those from the Alternative New Party and Democratic Peace Party factions are seen as possibly considering participation, leaving some room for flexibility.

A political reform coalition official said, "We can accept the Democratic Party’s decision to take the lower slots as a progressive move," adding, "We hope the Justice Party will review this until the end. Around the 16th, participating parties should gather to discuss issues such as list order."

Meanwhile, coordination among the forces pushing for the coalition party is also necessary. The "For the Citizens" group led by Professors Choi Bae-geun and Woo Hee-jong doubts the purity of the political reform coalition as a 'platform party.' Professor Choi stated in a phone interview, "I understand that the political reform coalition rejected the Democratic Party’s request for us (For the Citizens) to join," and "I also understand that the political reform coalition said it would field independent candidates if the Democratic Party does not participate."

The political reform coalition strongly denied the claim about fielding independent candidates. A Democratic Party official said, "The best scenario is for all civil society forces, whether the political reform coalition or For the Citizens, to come together," adding, "However, since these groups have different goals, the Democratic Party is also facing significant challenges in making a choice."

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