Minsaengdang, Public Office Committee and Proportional Alliance Party Clash... "Are You the Democratic Party's Second Fiddle?" vs "Overstepping"

Bareunmiraedang Faction "Legal Resolution"
Alternative New Party & Democratic Peace Party Faction "Rushing Through"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] On the 16th, the Minsaengdang held a fierce factional debate at the Supreme Council meeting over the Nomination Management Committee (Nomination Committee) and the proportional representation coalition party. In particular, Co-Representative Kim Jeong-hwa faced strong opposition from the Alternative New Party and the Democratic Peace Party factions regarding the forced approval of the Nomination Committee regulations the previous day. Only Co-Representative Kim from the Bareunmiraedang faction, Supreme Council member Lee In-hee, and Supreme Council member Hwang In-cheol from the Alternative New Party faction attended the meeting that day.

Co-Representative Kim said, “This is precisely the centrist party that has fought for 20 months against forces trying to incorporate us as the second division of the Liberty Korea Party,” and criticized, “Now, forces trying to degrade us into the second division of the Democratic Party of Korea are using all sorts of old political tricks to paralyze party affairs.” He added, “We firmly reject the irrational politics of stealing to prevent theft,” and said, “Those who want to join the proportional representation coalition party should not deliberately stir up internal party conflicts but make a straightforward decision.”

The Alternative New Party faction immediately responded. Supreme Council member Hwang expressed deep regret over the Supreme Council’s disruption and the forced vote the previous day, saying, “They claim that a clear issue with 2 in favor and 4 against was decided only by the 2 votes in favor. We can neither agree nor tolerate this.”

Supreme Council member Hwang further criticized, “Co-Representative Kim has blocked the Supreme Council’s voting rights by either not submitting or refusing to vote on important issues that should have been agreed upon or decided at the Supreme Council,” and added, “The proportional representation coalition party issue has never been discussed even once. Co-Representative Kim has claimed as if his personal opinion were the party’s official stance.”

The Bareunmiraedang faction countered again. Supreme Council member Lee said, “The regulations related to the Nomination Committee were legitimately approved through democratic procedures yesterday. Calling this a forced vote is absurd,” and explained, “Article 120 of the party’s bylaws states that, except in cases specially stipulated in the party constitution and rules, delegation by written proxy is not allowed.” He continued, “The representative’s authority exercised by agreement of three persons is only a discretionary rule, and if another co-representative does not attend the meeting, the attending representative can exercise the authority.”

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Earlier, on the afternoon of the 15th, Minsaengdang continued last-minute discussions on the Nomination Committee regulations in a closed Supreme Council meeting. Co-Representative Yoo Seong-yeop was absent due to constituency schedules, and Co-Representative Park Joo-hyun was in self-quarantine after undergoing a test for the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19). When Co-Representative Kim failed to narrow differences, he attempted to approve a regulation appointing external members among the nine Nomination Committee members as the chairperson and two recommended by the chairperson. Supreme Council members Hwang from the Alternative New Party faction and Lee Gwan-seung from the Democratic Peace Party faction opposed removing the clause that the two external members are “recommended by the chairperson.” Ultimately, the vote among the four members was split 2 to 2. Then, the Bareunmiraedang faction forced the approval based on the party constitution and rules stating that in the case of a tie, the party representative decides.

The Alternative New Party and Democratic Peace Party factions immediately protested. Supreme Council members Hwang and Lee issued a statement claiming that Co-Representative Yoo had delegated his voting rights to Supreme Council member Hwang, and that Co-Representative Park, who was in self-quarantine, requested a telephone vote, which the Bareunmiraedang faction did not acknowledge. They stated, “The forced vote exploiting COVID-19 quarantine is null and void,” and “The Minsaengdang party constitution specifies that the exercise of representative authority requires the agreement of three persons. Therefore, at least minimal consultation with the co-representatives should have been conducted for the party representative to exercise authority in the case of a tie.”

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