Kim Haeng "Lawmakers, Public Opinion Gathered Through 100% Party Member Voting"

Kim Ki-hyun "One Million Party Members Will Not Elect a Biased Candidate"

Kim Seok-ki, Secretary General of the People Power Party, attended the Emergency Response Committee meeting held at the National Assembly on the 1st and is reviewing documents related to the party convention during the meeting. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] As the People Power Party's Emergency Response Committee is expected to finalize changes to the party convention rules as early as this week, Kim Haeng, a member of the committee, stated on the 19th that the opinion among lawmakers is "converging 100% on party member voting." This suggests a change from the existing '70% party sentiment, 30% public sentiment' to '100% party sentiment.'

Kim appeared on CBS Radio's "Kim Hyun-jung's News Show" that day and said, "Over the weekend, we gathered opinions from newly elected and senior lawmakers and will discuss them at the Emergency Response Committee meeting, and I was informed that the conclusion is generally converging on 100% party member voting."

The People Power Party's Emergency Response Committee is expected to approve a proposal to amend the party constitution and regulations to raise the party member voting ratio to 100% at the committee meeting as early as that morning. The amendment will be finalized after passing through the Standing National Committee (on the 20th) and the National Committee (on the 23rd) following the Emergency Response Committee's approval.

The Emergency Response Committee holds the view that "speedy resolution" is essential to hold the party convention in early March next year. Kim said, "Our (Emergency Response Committee's) term ends on March 10," adding, "So, to finish before then, there is very little time, and to complete the approval within this week, a general conclusion must be reached today."

Earlier, as reports emerged that President Yoon Seok-yeol emphasized the necessity of '100% party member voting,' there has been speculation that 'Yoon's will (尹心)' influenced this rule change. Kim responded, "There is a misunderstanding that we are following the president's orders. I have been actively advocating that to realize responsible party democracy, party member voting must be conducted by party members themselves."

Criticism from the 'anti-Yoon (非尹)' faction, including former lawmaker Yoo Seung-min and former party leader Lee Jun-seok, has also continued regarding the rule change. Especially Yoo, who is leading in party leader opinion polls, criticized, saying, "They are flipping the party constitution and regulations that have been in place for 18 years like turning over a hand."

In response, Kim said, "The party convention rules have changed several times. For example, the Democratic Party originally had a 9 to 1 ratio, but when electing leader Lee Jae-myung, it changed to 7.5 to 2.5," adding, "In fact, we do not know how the 1 million party members will vote, so it cannot be said that this is 'advantageous or disadvantageous to Yoo Seung-min.' It might even be advantageous to him."

Kim Ki-hyun, a People Power Party lawmaker classified as 'pro-Yoon,' also supported the change to '100% party sentiment' at KBS Radio's "Choi Kyung-young's Strong Current Affairs," saying that there are many voices within the party in favor of the rule change. He said, "As I travel around the country and listen to party members' demands whenever I have time, many say, 'Should outsiders intervene in electing the party leader?' If there is an opinion expressed by our party members, the party leadership accepts and acts on it."

However, concerns have been raised that changing the rules to '100% party sentiment' might limit the party's appeal to moderate voters. Regarding this, Kim mentioned former leader Lee Jun-seok's election and said, "The thoughts of our party members are very strategic. Our party has about 1 million members, and it is not correct to assume that all 1 million would blindly elect an excessively biased candidate without any strategic judgment."

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