Democratic Innovation Committee to Announce 3rd Reform Plan Today... Fueling 'Pro-Myeong vs. Anti-Myeong' Conflict?

Reduced Delegate Vote Weight
Outcry Against "Involvement of Party Members"
Rising Criticism of Innovation Committee Deviating from Purpose

The Innovation Committee of the Democratic Party of Korea, led by Kim Eun-kyung, will announce its third innovation plan on the 10th, which includes reforms to the delegate system and candidate nomination rules. Previously, the committee released the first and second innovation plans advocating for the waiver of parliamentary immunity, prevention of tactical party withdrawals, and transition to named voting, but these failed to gain traction within the party and were largely seen as declarative actions. The upcoming third innovation plan is also expected to potentially exacerbate conflicts between pro-Lee Jae-myung and anti-Lee factions.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the same day, the Innovation Committee will unveil the innovation plan at the National Assembly, focusing on reducing the proportion of delegates and revising the candidate nomination rules. The committee initially planned to announce the plan on the 8th but postponed it due to the need to verify survey results.

The direction for reforming the delegate system prepared by the committee is to "reduce the voting weight of delegates." Currently, the vote weight in the National Delegate Convention (party convention) that elects the party leadership is distributed as follows: 40% for party members with voting rights, 30% for delegates, 25% for opinion polls, and 5% for general party members. However, considering that the Democratic Party has 1 million party members with voting rights and 16,000 delegates, concerns have been raised that the value of a delegate's vote is excessively high. It is said that one delegate vote at the convention is equivalent to 60 party member votes. Additionally, following the emergence of the "2021 party convention cash envelope scandal," the Innovation Committee proposed abolishing or reducing the delegate system as part of the innovation plan.

However, the anti-Lee faction strongly opposes this because it could relatively strengthen the influence of party members with voting rights, who include a high proportion of the "Gaeddal (Daughters of Reform)"?the hardline supporters of Lee Jae-myung.

Anti-Lee lawmaker Yoon Young-chan appeared on SBS Radio on the morning of the same day and said, "For innovation, we need to start by reflecting on what has been done over the past year, specifically the Lee Jae-myung leadership, but that part is untouched," criticizing the Innovation Committee's discussion on abolishing or reducing the delegate system by asking, "Why bring this up now to stir up trouble?" With the general election scheduled for April next year, he pointed out that the party should be united now, and that the delegate system controversy, which should only be discussed during the party convention, is dividing the party.

The innovation plan is also expected to include changes to the candidate nomination rules to be applied in next year's general election. Proposals include penalizing senior lawmakers with three or more terms who run in the same district, aiming to weaken the entrenched power of multi-term lawmakers.

However, there is criticism that the Innovation Committee's direction itself deviates from its original purpose. Another anti-Lee lawmaker, Lee Won-wook, said on BBS Radio in the morning, "The Innovation Committee was formed because the Democratic Party's trust declined due to incidents like the cash envelope scandal and Kim Nam-guk coin scandal," adding, "The committee's task was to consider how to overcome the gap between party sentiment and public sentiment, but when some lawmakers suggested revising the delegate system and candidate nomination system, it inevitably raised suspicions that the committee had become a spokesperson for Gaeddal and political hooligans." As opposition from the anti-Lee faction continues over the innovation plan, supporters of Lee Jae-myung have even held 'watermelon' protest rallies at the offices of anti-Lee faction lawmakers, showing how factional conflicts are spreading among party members.

The Innovation Committee is expected to effectively conclude its activities after announcing the third innovation plan. Kim Han-gyu, the Democratic Party's floor spokesperson, said on KBS Radio that "the policy meeting scheduled as early as next week or an upcoming workshop will discuss the matter in depth," and added, "The innovation plan announced at 1:30 PM will effectively mark the end of the Innovation Committee's duties."

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