Removal of 'Active Duty Nomination Reduction' Party Rule... Opposition Criticizes as "Trick Exposed"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Wondara] The Democratic Party of Korea has effectively removed the rule that reduces nominations for incumbent lawmakers, raising the likelihood of incumbent Democratic Party lawmakers being nominated for the Seoul and Busan mayoral elections. The People Power Party criticized this as a series of 'tricks.'

On the 9th, it was confirmed that the Democratic Party added a clause to the party regulation from last August stating, "If an elected official who has not completed more than three-quarters of their term runs for a public office at any level, causing a by-election, 25% of the evaluation score will be deducted," with the exception, "However, if the candidate runs for a metropolitan mayoral election, no deduction will be applied." This regulation was originally introduced in 2015 during Moon Jae-in's tenure as party leader as part of party reforms aimed at increasing accountability.

Following this amendment, the possibility of incumbent lawmakers being nominated as candidates for Seoul and Busan mayoral elections has increased. Incumbent lawmakers mentioned as potential Seoul mayoral candidates include Woo Sang-ho, Park Ju-min, and Park Yong-jin, while for Busan mayoral candidates, incumbents include Park Jae-ho, Jeon Jae-su, and Choi In-ho. Conversely, due to the removal of the deduction rule, Park Young-sun, Minister of SMEs and Startups, and Choo Mi-ae, Minister of Justice?both of whom receive a 10% bonus for being female candidates?are relatively disadvantaged. A Democratic Party official explained the reason for this amendment as "the candidate pool narrows if incumbents are excluded."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The opposition party criticized the Democratic Party for repeatedly amending party rules for the Seoul and Busan mayoral elections, calling it a trick. Joo Ho-young, floor leader of the People Power Party, said at an emergency meeting at the National Assembly that day, "The Democratic Party first amended the party constitution to avoid fielding candidates in by-elections caused by their own party-affiliated local leaders' mistakes, and then it was revealed that they inserted another party rule during the process. If they were confident, there would be no need to hide it, but they tried to conceal it because they were embarrassed, and it was exposed." He added, "'It changes from time to time' is the enemy of the rule of law and democracy," and criticized, "This attitude of the ruling party is a dangerous mindset that no organization or group should have."

Meanwhile, the Democratic Party held the first meeting of the By-election Planning Committee at the National Assembly that afternoon. Lawmaker Park Kwang-on, the party secretary-general, was appointed as the head, with Lawmaker Kim Min-seok, chair of the Strategic Planning Advisory Committee, and Jeon Jae-su, deputy floor leader, serving as vice heads. The committee planned to discuss the overall roadmap (step-by-step implementation plan) including candidate verification processes, primary election rules, and the timing and methods of the primaries.

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