Minjoo Likely to Amend Party Charter Established During Opposition Days to Nominate Seoul and Busan Mayoral Candidates

Considering Public Opinion, Discussion on the Option of Nominating Female Candidates

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Wondara] The Democratic Party of Korea, which had established party rules during its time as the opposition, is facing controversy as opinions are spreading to amend these rules and field candidates in next year's by-elections for the Seoul and Busan mayoral positions. To this end, a procedure to gather opinions from party members is underway, and the possibility of nominating female candidates is also being discussed. The justification is based on a consensus that "not fielding candidates would weaken the momentum of the Moon Jae-in administration."

Kim Boo-kyum, a former lawmaker and candidate for the Democratic Party leadership, wrote on his Facebook on the 15th, "There is a clause in the Democratic Party's rules stating that the party will not nominate candidates in by-elections held after our party's candidate steps down due to an unsavory incident," adding, "If the party members' will is to nominate candidates, I will sincerely apologize to the public and ask for their understanding. If necessary, I will amend the party rules."

The party rule mentioned by former lawmaker Kim is Article 92, Clause 2, which states, "If an elected official belonging to the party loses their position due to a serious wrongdoing such as corruption, and a by-election is held, the party shall not recommend a candidate for that electoral district." This innovation was established in 2015 when the Democratic Party was still the opposition (then the New Politics Alliance for Democracy). Notably, this reform was passed during Moon Jae-in's tenure as party leader and is also known as the "Moon Jae-in innovation plan." When former Chungnam Governor Ahn Hee-jung resigned in 2018 amid sexual assault allegations, a simultaneous nationwide local election was held, so no by-election took place.

Within the Democratic Party, there are also opinions suggesting that the party rules should be amended but female candidates should be nominated. On the same day, Democratic Party lawmaker Kwon In-sook responded "Yes" to a question during a CBS radio interview asking, "Could nominating female candidates for both Seoul and Busan mayoral positions be considered a compromise?" She added, "I hope more female candidates for metropolitan government heads can emerge," and said, "If women are more involved in decision-making processes and work alongside men, I believe such problems will occur much less."

The Democratic Party has not yet officially expressed its position on amending the party rules. Lawmaker Lee Nak-yeon, a frontrunner for party leadership, has also remained reserved on this matter. Earlier, on the 30th of last month, the Democratic Party approved amendments to the party rules and regulations to separate the terms of the party leader and the Supreme Council members. This was seen as easing the burden on Lee, a leading presidential candidate, in his bid for party leadership. A Democratic Party official pointed out, "Former lawmaker Geum Tae-seop was disciplined for violating party principles according to party rules because he voted against the establishment of the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Office," adding, "If the party rules are amended based on political gains and losses, it will not gain public sympathy and will inevitably lose normative power."

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