Democratic Party Gwangju Mayor Nomination 'Tilted Playing Field'... Three Preliminary Candidates Sit-in Protest

"Giving a 25% Bonus and Changing the Primary System... Favoritism Toward a Specific Candidate"

Three Gwangju mayoral candidates on a sit-in protest in front of the Democratic Party Central Office [Candidate Election Camp]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ra Young-cheol] Shin Dong-heon, Park Hae-kwang, and Park Gwan-yeol, preliminary candidates for the mayor of Gwangju from the Democratic Party of Korea, have called for the withdrawal of the designation of Gwangju as a youth strategic electoral district and urged for a public primary election involving citizen participation.

These three candidates suspect that the party designated Gwangju as a strategic nomination area because preliminary candidate Dong Hee-young accompanied Kim Hye-kyung, the wife of candidate Lee Jae-myung, during the last presidential election.

These preliminary candidates held a sit-in protest in front of the Democratic Party headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, on the afternoon of the 28th, claiming, "Preliminary candidate Dong Hee-young received the lowest suitability score and was in a position where he could not be decided as the mayoral candidate for Gwangju, but due to the benefits of the changed primary election method, he gained a favorable position."

They continued, "The given primary election rules granted Dong Hee-young a 25% additional score under the revised framework," and emphasized, "Although the three candidates accepted this, changing the primary election method before the announcement is an insult to all Democratic Party members in Gwangju and the citizens of Gwangju."

They warned, "If the right to choose of Gwangju citizens and party members is deprived and a citizen nomination jury system is forcibly implemented for a specific candidate, it will cause a rift between the party organization and public sentiment," adding, "We clearly predict that the Gwangju mayoral election will end in an unexpected tragedy."

In particular, they raised their voices, saying, "If the party nominates a candidate without verification by party members or the general public, Gwangju citizens will question the important future urban planning of Gwangju through Dong Hee-young, and if the opposing candidate strategically campaigns on this, the Democratic Party will inevitably lose this election."

Earlier, the three candidates had completed interview evaluations according to procedures set by the party's executive committee and were awaiting the announcement of candidates participating in the public primary election.

However, on the 20th, the party's Emergency Response Committee designated Gwangju as a "youth strategic electoral district" and announced that the candidate would be decided through a jury evaluation.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Party's current citizen nomination jury primary election method is planned to be conducted with 40% from on-site and expert evaluation panels (total 50 members), 30% from local party members, and 30% from the national jury panel.

The Democratic Party plans to recruit on-site evaluation panel members until 6 p.m. on the day, hold a candidate debate on May 1, and decide the candidate through a combined voting ratio of each evaluation panel, including ARS voting.

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