Jo Hae-jin: "Lee Jun-seok Did Well to Launch the Innovation Committee... Party Collapses Due to Nomination Reform Failure"

"If Nomination Reform Fails, Opposition Will Emerge in This Local Election"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunju Lee] On the 7th, Jo Hae-jin, a member of the People Power Party, praised the Innovation Committee launched by Representative Lee Jun-seok as "a good move," stating, "True sincerity lies in innovating when you win."

Jo posted on his Facebook that day, saying, "However, limiting innovation tasks to party reform needs reconsideration," and added, "It is the expectation of the people that the People Power Party, as the ruling party, leads overall political reforms including parliamentary reform, party reform, election reform, and political fund reform."

He continued, "The key to the success of the Innovation Committee lies in the composition of its members," emphasizing, "Innovation committee members should be people who have consistently shown interest in political reform and have deeply contemplated it."

Jo viewed the core of party reform as reforming the nomination system. He said, "Looking at the history of the downfall of ruling and opposition parties, most failures stemmed from nomination reform failures, specifically secret nominations, factional nominations, and retaliatory nominations rooted in factionalism," warning, "No matter how well the Yoon Seok-yeol administration performs, if it fails to achieve nomination reform and repeats old practices, the results will be like ruining a two-year harvest in one go."

Regarding some criticisms questioning why a current party leader would touch on the issue of nomination rights, he argued, "The very idea that the nomination rights belong to the party leader, whether incumbent or successor, is anti-democratic and should be the primary target for reform," adding, "Such a perception is the root of power struggles and party conflicts. Nomination rights belong to party members and the public, and institutionalizing and systematizing this is the core of nomination reform."

Jo said that now is the right time to reform the nomination system before the general election approaches, stating, "If innovation succeeds, the results of the general election two years later will mirror this local election, but if it fails, the opposite scenario will unfold before our eyes," and urged, "All members of our party must come together with wisdom to establish a fair and rational nomination system, leading change as a reformist party and becoming an advanced party ahead of the times."

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