People Power Party-Kookmin Party Merger Talks 'Break Down'... "Differences Over Presidential Candidate Selection Method"

Possibility of Party Leader Negotiations Including Meeting Between Lee Jun-seok and Ahn Cheol-soo

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] Discussions on the merger between the People Power Party and the People’s Party are on the brink of collapse. The working-level negotiation teams, which were supposed to discuss the merger, have decided to end their talks, and neither side has even established a channel for follow-up negotiations.

Seong Il-jong, head of the People Power Party’s working-level negotiation team, and Kwon Eun-hee, head of the People’s Party’s working-level negotiation team, announced on the 27th after their meeting, "The working-level negotiation teams of both parties will terminate negotiations hereafter."

For now, both sides confirmed through a joint statement that some progress had been made in the merger discussions. According to the statement, "There are no disagreements regarding party finances, succession of secretariat personnel, and succession of party members."

The issues arose mainly over the method of selecting the presidential candidate, future negotiation methods, and the party name. Each side expressed their differing views on these matters. Regarding the party name, "The People’s Party proposed changing the party name, but the People Power Party insisted on maintaining the People Power Party name and suggested leaving the decision to the candidate after the presidential candidate is selected."

Regarding the presidential candidate platform, the People’s Party demanded the formation of a separate committee to select a unified opposition candidate independently, excluding the existing People Power Party’s party constitution and regulations. On the other hand, the People Power Party proposed resolving this issue through talks between the two party leaders. Additionally, proposals such as the People’s Party joining the People Power Party’s primary preparation committee to discuss primary rules were made, but no consensus was reached.

Furthermore, both sides agreed to continue additional discussions regarding the composition of party organizations. Although they stated there were "no disagreements" about the party organization composition, an annex clause mentioned that "working-level consultations on the composition of party organizations will be conducted." According to this, "For party organizations limited to one person under the People Power Party’s constitution, appointments will be made after reviewing competition, committee composition, and parallel operation plans through consultations between the secretaries-general. For party organizations without personnel limits under the People Power Party’s constitution, joint appointments will be made in principle, respecting the current positions held by both parties." This means that organizations requiring a single appointee will select one through consultations between the secretaries-general, while those allowing joint appointments will be appointed jointly.

Head Kwon stated, "The People’s Party’s working-level negotiation team pursued a merger for opposition unity, but the People Power Party pursued a merger by, of, and for the People Power Party."

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