The Civic Party "Let Us Participate in the Democratic Party Floor Leader Election"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Nahum] As preparations for the next floor leader election of the Democratic Party of Korea are in full swing, it has been reported that the Deobureo Civic Party has requested to participate in the Democratic Party floor leader election vote.

According to both parties, the Democratic Party and the Civic Party, on the 22nd, Je Yoon-kyung, spokesperson for the Civic Party, requested Yoon Ho-jung, Secretary-General of the Democratic Party, to allow proportional representation winners from the Civic Party to participate in the floor leader election scheduled for the 7th of next month.

Since the two parties are already preparing for a merger, and especially because the proportional representation candidates elected from the Democratic Party were 'dispatched' on the premise of returning to the National Assembly, the Civic Party argues that they should naturally be given the opportunity to vote.

However, the merger date of the two parties is set for the 15th of next month, so to allow Civic Party winners to participate in the floor leader election vote scheduled for the 7th, an amendment to the party rules is inevitable. The current Democratic Party rules state, "In the case of a floor leader election held before the start of the term of the elected members of the National Assembly after the general election, only elected members belonging to the party have the right to vote."

Within the party, there are discussions about forming a joint negotiation group between the Democratic Party and the Civic Party even before the merger, and granting voting rights to members of that negotiation group as a possible solution.

The Democratic Party's position is that once Representative Lee Hae-chan returns from vacation, the Supreme Council will discuss and review the possibility of amending the party rules and granting voting rights.

Lee Won-wook, a member of the Democratic Party and secretary of the floor leader election management committee, told reporters on the day, "It seems to be a matter for the Supreme Council to decide finally," adding, "Today, the election management committee only discussed election procedures and processes, and there was no discussion related to the Civic Party."

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