Lee Jun-seok "No Quotas for Women and Youth... Applying Yoon's Personnel Principles"

June Local Elections, No Party-Level Quota Applied
Democratic Party Mandates 30% Female and Youth Quota

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jun-yi] Lee Jun-seok, leader of the People Power Party, announced that the party will not apply quotas for women, youth, and others at the party level in the upcoming local elections in June. This clearly establishes the principle of conducting elections based on 'ability' rather than quota systems.

On the 24th, Lee stated at the People Power Party Supreme Council meeting, "In this nomination process, we will not use party-level quotas beyond those stipulated in the Public Official Election Act." The current Public Official Election Act requires that at least one candidate per district for city and provincial council elections be a woman.

Lee explained that this decision reflects the personnel principles of President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol. He said, "We intend to fairly compete and evaluate everyone regardless of gender or age, adhering to the personnel principles pursued by the Yoon Seok-yeol administration. Therefore, rather than quotas for young generations, women, or people with disabilities, we aim to create an environment where fair competition is possible." Instead of providing opportunities to social minorities through quotas, the system will allow anyone with ability to challenge freely. President-elect Yoon also expressed a negative view on quotas during a press conference on the 13th, stating, "(Prioritizing regional balance or women quotas) such national integration does not help national development."

In fact, the People Power Party has decided to introduce the 'Public Official Candidate Competency Enhancement Test (PPAT)' for proportional representation nominations in this local election, targeting basic and metropolitan council members. This means that when electing local council members, candidates will be granted qualifications based on their test results to a certain extent. At the meeting, it was emphasized, "Applying the competency enhancement test to proportional representation nominations, which are prone to opacity and confusion, is to establish a foundation of capable proportional representatives. Although there are concerns about whether competency evaluation ensures good performance as council members, please have high expectations for the institutionalization and systematization of party nominations."

On the other hand, the Democratic Party has decided to allocate a mandatory quota of over 30% for women and youth candidates in metropolitan and basic council nominations for this local election. Although the party constitution and regulations already specify a 30% mandatory quota, the party plans to enforce the quota strictly if it is not observed due to election circumstances or candidate competitiveness.

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