Five Candidates Including Hong Jun-pyo and Yoo Seung-min Boycott Primary Schedule... "Jung Hong-won Sides with Yoon Seok-youl"

If the Preliminary Deliberation Committee Does Not Adopt the Original Plan, They Will Not Participate in the Fair Primary Pledge
Hong Jun-pyo, Yoo Seung-min, Ha Tae-kyung, Ahn Sang-soo, Park Chan-joo Joint Action

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] Five People Power presidential candidates, including Hong Jun-pyo, Yoo Seung-min, Ha Tae-kyung, Ahn Sang-soo, and Park Chan-joo, declared that they would not attend the ‘Fair Primary Pledge Ceremony’ scheduled for the 5th if the party’s presidential election management committee does not accept the primary preparation committee’s proposal not to include the ‘reverse selection prevention clause.’ They expressed their intention to boycott the party’s presidential election schedule in protest against Election Commissioner Jeong Hong-won siding with candidate Yoon Seok-yeol over the reverse selection prevention regulation.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The five People Power presidential candidates stated in a joint statement on the 4th, "The party’s election management committee should immediately finalize the original proposal of the primary preparation committee, which decided not to include the reverse selection prevention clause," and declared, "Until this demand is accepted, the five candidates will not attend the Fair Primary Pledge Ceremony."

They said, "The People Power presidential primary, which should be a national festival, is heading toward a breakdown," and criticized, "The party’s election commissioner, who must maintain absolute neutrality, is causing turmoil by representing the position of a specific candidate."

They urged, "Commissioner Jeong should immediately stop the baseless attempt to overturn the primary rules," and argued, "Candidates like Yoon Seok-yeol use the excuse of ‘concerns about reverse selection,’ but separating the party and candidate choices is not ‘reverse selection’ but ‘crossover voting.’"

The presidential candidates pointed out, "At the election management committee meeting on the 3rd, although six election commissioners opposed the introduction of the reverse selection prevention clause and supported maintaining the primary preparation committee’s original proposal, the commissioner’s attitude to hold another vote on the 5th, ignoring the party constitution and regulations that state a tied vote results in rejection, is a serious challenge that threatens the foundation of the party beyond unfairness."

According to People Power election commissioners, during the opinion confirmation process regarding the reverse selection prevention regulation at the election management committee on the 3rd, six members opposed applying the regulation. According to party rules, the reverse selection prevention regulation should have been rejected in the vote, but Commissioner Jeong stated that opinions were ‘evenly split’ and expressed his intention to hold a revote.

The five People Power presidential candidates also opposed the proposed mediation plans (‘Let’s ask only those who support regime change,’ ‘Combine the results of surveys with and without the reverse selection prevention clause’).

Regarding their refusal to attend the Fair Primary Pledge Ceremony scheduled for the 5th, they criticized, "Asking us to pledge a fair primary without confirming the fundamental principles of the primary rules is an anti-democratic decision that demands unconditional compliance with what we set."

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