Representative Lee Jae-myung's Reappointment Final Hurdle Remains... Criticism Spreads Alongside

The Democratic Party held a party affairs committee meeting on the 12th to propose a revision to the party constitution to establish an exception clause for the 'party leader resignation deadline.' With this, all procedural steps to approve the constitutional amendment at the party central committee meeting on the 17th have been completed. The party rules and constitution are finally confirmed through resolutions by the party affairs committee and the central committee, respectively.

According to the 'Key Contents of the Constitutional Amendment and Comparison Table of New and Old Provisions' disclosed by the Democratic Party on the same day, it was decided not to amend Article 25 of the party constitution (regulation on separation of party leadership and presidential candidacy), which was controversial due to the 'one-year prior resignation' rule for the party leader. Instead, an exception clause will be added to Article 88 of the party constitution concerning the 'recommendation of presidential candidates.' Specifically, despite Article 25 of the constitution, a provision was added stating, "In cases of special and considerable reasons, the resignation deadline of the party leader and supreme council members may be set differently by resolution of the party affairs committee."

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is speaking at the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the 12th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

원본보기 아이콘

As a result, there is no change to the 'tailored amendment for Lee Jae-myung's presidential bid.' The party affairs committee chairperson is the authority to judge the 'special and considerable reasons' in the exception clause. The chairperson of the party affairs committee is Lee Jae-myung himself. In other words, he can decide the timing of his resignation as party leader according to his own intentions. Additionally, the clause in Article 80 that automatically suspends the duties of those involved in corruption upon indictment was also finally removed. Thus, once the central committee approves it next week, Lee will be able to serve as party leader without restrictions on resignation deadlines or judicial risks until the 2026 local elections.

However, criticism of the constitutional and party rule amendments, mainly from senior party lawmakers, remains a variable. Key figures of the pro-Lee Jae-myung faction, such as lawmakers Kim Young-jin and Jung Sung-ho, publicly raised issues about procedural democracy being neglected during the amendment process and pointed out concerns about the potential erosion of diversity within the party. If internal criticism spreads, the constitutional amendment resolution at the central committee could face difficulties.

Meanwhile, a party rule amendment to strengthen party member rights is also scheduled to be approved on the same day. The main point is to reflect 20% of the votes from party members with voting rights in the National Assembly Speaker candidate primary. Additionally, if there are three or more candidates in the primary, measures such as preferential voting or runoff voting will be considered. A Democratic Party official stated, "The party rules will be prioritized for approval at the party affairs committee today, and the amendment proposal has been submitted for approval at the central committee for the constitutional amendment," adding, "We plan to continue internal discussions on the constitutional amendment until the central committee meeting."

© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.