Ahn Cheol-soo: "Responsible Party Members Decide Proportional Representatives"... Proposes Party Innovation Measures

"Completely Block Parachute Candidacy"
Establish Party Member Petition System

[Asia Economy Reporter Geum Boryeong] Ahead of the March 8 People Power Party leadership election, candidate Ahn Cheol-soo emphasized returning rights to party members, such as allowing responsible party members to determine the proportional representation ranking.

On the morning of the 19th, candidate Ahn announced the second party innovation plan under the theme "We Are the Owners" at the National Assembly Members' Office Building.

First, he said that responsible party member electorates and jury systems would be operated so that party members can directly exercise nomination rights. In the case of proportional representation, responsible party member electorates will vote to decide the ranking. During this process, incumbent lawmakers who exhibit inappropriate behavior such as verbal abuse will be disqualified from applying for nominations through the jury panel.

Ahn Cheol-soo, the People Power Party's presidential candidate, is speaking at the 2nd Policy Vision Presentation on "Strengthening Party Membership Rights and the Nomination System," held on the morning of the 19th at the National Assembly Members' Office Building in Yeouido, Seoul. (Photo by Yonhap News)

Candidate Ahn explained, "We will fundamentally block parachute nominations and nepotistic nominations," adding, "We will separately devise methods to guarantee a certain quota for socially disadvantaged groups that the party must consider."

A party member petition system will also be established. If a petition is agreed upon by more than 0.5% of the responsible party members, legislative matters will be decided on whether to pursue legislation, and current issues will be answered by the party leadership.

Regarding this, candidate Ahn said, "Party members are not targets for mobilization in elections or events. Although it has been said that the party respects the will of its members, proper channels to reflect party members' opinions have not been adequately established. Actively understanding and seeking solutions to the opinions and demands of party comrades is truly a party where members are the owners and the realization of intra-party democracy."

Candidate Ahn also plans to relax and actualize the criteria for the party member recall system and expand its scope. This is to ensure that party members continuously verify and check incumbent lawmakers and leadership who engage in inappropriate behavior such as verbal abuse, so that responsible politics as the ruling party can be conducted.

He stated, "If a recall is decided, elected and appointed party officials will be immediately dismissed, and in the case of elected public officials, the Ethics Committee will make decisions reflecting the purpose of the recall."

Meanwhile, after the meeting on the same day, when reporters asked if he thought candidate Kim Ki-hyun's explanation regarding the Ulsan KTX station area real estate allegations was insufficient, he replied, "If this issue is not completely resolved this time and I do not become the leader, the Democratic Party will focus attacks and criticism on this, making it difficult for us to win the general election next year," adding, "This means that he should properly explain it for himself and for our party to prevent that."

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