People Power Party's Geochang Governor Nomination Enters New Phase After Changwon Court Ruling

Lee Honggi's Injunction Accepted

People Power Party's New Primary for Geochang County Completely Halted

Ahead of the 9th nationwide local elections, the court has intervened in the controversy over candidate exclusion that erupted during the People Power Party's primary for Geochang County governor.

On May 4, the Changwon District Court partly accepted a petition filed by Lee Honggi, a preliminary candidate of the People Power Party, seeking to suspend the effect of the party's decision to hold a new primary by the Gyeongsangnam-do branch of the People Power Party.

[Photo by Soonkyung Choi] Changwon District Court Photo

The court (21st Civil Division, Presiding Judge Jang Sooyoung) stated, "The effect of the decision to hold a new primary without Lee Honggi as a candidate is suspended until the final ruling on the main lawsuit." In addition, the court ordered the suspension of all subsequent procedures, including the conduct of voting (via text message and ARS), announcement of results, and candidate recommendation and confirmation based on these results.

This decision has effectively brought the plans for a new primary for the Geochang County governor, pursued by the Gyeongsangnam-do branch of the People Power Party, to a complete halt.

While the court recognized the autonomy of political parties in its decision, it also ruled that the decision to exclude this candidate "clearly lacked objective rationality and validity."

In particular, the court pointed out that the party’s nomination management committee excluded Lee from the primary without sufficiently investigating the facts concerning the alleged leak of the party member list. It also noted that similar circumstances were found with other candidates, yet only one specific candidate was excluded, which was considered an unfair measure.

The court further cited the fact that if the primary proceeded as originally planned, Lee would lose his opportunity for nomination, resulting in irreparable harm, as another reason for granting the injunction. As a result, Lee Honggi has now been legally recognized as eligible to participate in the primary.

Nam Sangkwon, legal representative for Lee, stated, "The court’s decision reaffirms the principle that a fair opportunity to compete in the primary must be guaranteed," adding, "We hope that proper and normal procedures for the primary will be established going forward."

Political insiders and observers believe that, following this decision, the nomination race for the Geochang County governor is highly likely to be reset and reorganized from scratch.

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