Minsaengdang and Proportional Alliance Party in 'Final Showdown'... "Let's Participate" vs "Trying to Sell Out the Party"

Park Juhyun "Party decision should be made by gathering opinions at the party meeting"
Kim Junghwa "Minsaeng Party abandoned founding spirit... an inappropriate act"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] The Minsheng Party is sharply divided between factions over participation in the proportional representation coalition party. While the Bareunmirae Party faction has clearly expressed opposition, voices in favor are dominant among the Alternative New Party and the Party for Democracy and Peace factions.

Park Joo-hyun, co-leader from the Party for Democracy and Peace, stated at a parliamentary meeting held on the afternoon of the 17th, “The Minsheng Party needs to participate in this coalition. To ensure that the Proportional Democratic Coalition does not become like the Future Korea Party, it is necessary to decide on participation so that the forces leading electoral reform, rather than the Democratic Party of Korea, can take ownership of the electoral coalition,” adding, “We must gather the opinions of lawmakers at today’s meeting and reflect the results in the Supreme Council to decide the party’s official stance.”

Cheon Jeong-bae, a lawmaker from the Alternative New Party, also told reporters immediately after the meeting, “For the sake of legitimacy and principle, to secure the victory of the democratic reform forces, in other words, to block the conservative vested interests, we must unite our strength,” and added, “Practically speaking, whether the Minsheng Party participates in the proportional coalition or not, it will rise. Whether in terms of legitimacy, practicality, principle, or benefit, participation is absolutely necessary on both fronts.”

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the other hand, Kim Jeong-hwa, co-leader from the Bareunmirae Party, pointed out in a statement that the court’s ruling that the former Bareunmirae Party’s 'self-resignation from proportional representation' is invalid means, “According to this decision, the possibility of returning to the Minsheng Party after being elected through the proportional coalition party by self-resignation has disappeared,” and criticized, “This inevitably leads to another cycle of trickery, loopholes, and illegal tactics. It is a vicious cycle of ‘shameful politics.’”

Co-leader Kim said, “Nevertheless, talking about participation in the proportional coalition party raises suspicion that there may be a hidden intention to sell the party entirely to the Democratic Party of Korea,” and emphasized, “The Minsheng Party was founded for a multiparty system, breaking the two-party dominance, and political reform. We clearly state that demands to abandon the founding spirit of the Minsheng Party may constitute an act of betrayal.”

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