<野> Urges 'Nomination Overhaul' Outside Parliament... "Current Establishment Must Be Dismantled"

Democratic Party's Extra-Parliamentary Group 'The Minjoo National Innovation Council'
Proposes 10 Major Nomination Reform Plans to Party Innovation Committee
"50% Incumbent Turnover, 75% Replacement for Three-Term or More Veterans" Demanded

A claim has emerged from outside the Democratic Party of Korea that more than half of the incumbent lawmakers should be 'replaced' in next year's general election for the National Assembly. They urged a reform of vested interests for victory in the general election, stating that more than three-quarters of lawmakers with three or more terms should be changed.

The Democratic Party of Korea's external group, 'The Minjoo National Innovation Council,' held a press conference at the National Assembly on the morning of the 19th and stated, "To win the general election, at least 50% of incumbent lawmakers must be replaced, and among lawmakers with three or more terms, more than three-quarters, that is, 30 out of 39, must be replaced."

They said, "The public wants a sweeping replacement of candidates by the Democratic Party. Many incumbent lawmakers have not been reformist nor competent, failing to meet the public's expectations," and emphasized, "The only way for the Democratic Party to regain public trust is to boldly reorganize lawmakers who have become vested interests and no longer trusted by the public, and to be reborn as a young and new party."

The Minjoo National Innovation Council proposed ten major innovation plans to the Innovation Committee to realize this.

They demanded ▲limiting candidacy for lawmakers with three or more terms in the same constituency ▲disclosure of evaluation results for incumbent lawmakers and other elected officials ▲establishment of a 'party identity' category when recommending National Assembly candidates ▲guaranteeing joint debates for primary candidates ▲mandatory runoff voting when three or more candidates compete in primaries ▲ensuring party members' participation opportunities through mobile voting in primaries ▲excluding party primary participation experience from the criteria for excluding political newcomers ▲diversifying primary methods ▲guaranteeing political newcomers' access to party members ▲disclosure of disciplinary records and other information of primary candidates.

They said, "Nomination reform is the institutionalization of replacement," adding, "Nomination reform is what enables the Democratic Party to ride the wave of public sentiment demanding a sweeping replacement." They continued, "The vested interests of incumbent lawmakers who go against the wave of public sentiment must be dismantled," and added, "Nomination reform means drastically changing the current nomination system, which is biased toward maintaining and defending the vested interests of incumbent lawmakers, into a nomination system that reflects the will of the public and party members."

They also said, "We ask incumbent lawmakers, especially multi-term lawmakers, to be faithful to the spirit of putting the party before personal interests," and emphasized, "Please open the way for new and reformist figures so that the Democratic Party can navigate smoothly by accepting the public's demand for a sweeping replacement."

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