Ruling Party Nomination Polls Criticized for Favoring Newcomers, "Aim Is General Election Competitiveness"

Jang Dong-hyuk, Secretary General of the People Power Party, emphasized that the purpose of the competitiveness poll by the Nomination Management Committee for each preliminary candidate is "to assess competitiveness in the general election," in response to criticism that the poll favored newcomers.

Jang Dong-hyeok, Secretary General of the People Power Party and Member of the Nomination Management Committee. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

On the 8th, Secretary General Jang met with reporters at the Yeouido Central Party Office and said regarding the poll questions comparing each preliminary candidate one-on-one with Democratic Party candidates, "The purpose of this poll is to evaluate general election competitiveness, not competitiveness among party candidates," adding, "Although it may be disadvantageous to incumbent lawmakers and advantageous to newcomers due to the reflection of party approval ratings, I believe it is fair in assessing general election competitiveness."

The People Power Party has been conducting disqualification screenings and competitiveness polls for nomination applicants from the 5th until this day. However, some within the party have opposed the poll questions. Unlike previous polls, this time the method compares each preliminary candidate with a candidate from another party, rather than selecting among People Power Party candidates. Since People Power Party supporters are likely to choose their party’s candidate regardless of the question, the differentiation among preliminary candidates may disappear. It is pointed out that this could work to the advantage of newcomers who have disadvantages such as lower name recognition within the party.

Secretary General Jang said, "Since the general election reflects party approval ratings regardless of the candidate, the questions were written this way," and added, "The survey targets the general public. There is no clause to prevent reverse selection."

When asked about the Democratic Party proceeding with single-candidate nominations first, Secretary General Jang replied, "The People Power Party also plans to conduct interviews starting with disadvantageous regions," and said, "Single-candidate recommendations will be announced the day after interviews are completed." He continued, "It requires careful consideration how many candidates to include in the primary, so it is difficult to announce the primary candidates immediately."

Regarding priority recommendation regions, he said, "Priority recommendations should not exceed 20%, but if announced early, there might be regions where priority recommendations cannot be made because the 20% limit is exceeded," adding, "We plan to announce the priority recommendation regions at an appropriate time while monitoring various situations."

Meanwhile, Secretary General Jang addressed former Liberty Korea Party (the predecessor of the People Power Party) floor leader Kim Sung-tae’s objection to being judged disqualified for nomination, saying, "Those deemed disqualified may have various complaints or grievances," but added, "I will say that the decision was made after thorough review and in-depth discussion, reflecting the public’s expectations."

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