People Power Party 7/23 National Convention 5th Broadcast Debate
Na Kyung-won and Won Hee-ryong launched a fierce attack on candidate Han Dong-hoon’s revelation at the end of the People Power Party’s July 23 convention that he had “requested the cancellation of the indictment regarding the National Assembly fast-track collision incident.” The two candidates attacked candidate Han, saying, “How can you be qualified as a party member, let alone the party leader, to announce to the world my request to correct the wrong indictment as if it were a personal favor?” Na said. Won also said, “As the Minister of Justice, you must have had countless conversations with numerous politicians in our party. Will you take it out of the cabinet file and use it as material to attack their weaknesses if it later becomes unfavorable to you?” Han bowed her head, saying that while she had been indicted according to the law at the time, she “should have considered the feelings of our party members who are suffering from the fast-track incident.”
Candidate Na criticized, “I was quite surprised yesterday when Candidate Han talked about asking for the cancellation of the indictment as if it were a personal favor,” at a debate hosted by KBS on the afternoon of the 18th, saying, “I thought their perceptions were quite different. They don’t have the perception that we are one.” He continued, “If Candidate Han becomes the party leader, who would go out and fight against the abuse of parliamentary democracy?” and “If the government has changed, it would be right to sort out the wrong retaliatory indictments to suppress the opposition party.” Candidate Won followed up by saying, “They move nimbly when they have a chance to shine, such as the long speech on the motion to arrest Lee Jae-myung, but when it’s disadvantageous for them or when it’s their job or responsibility, they blame others and the system, and I can’t feel any sense of camaraderie or responsibility.” He then asked, “Didn’t you suddenly bring it up (about asking for the cancellation of the indictment) without me even asking, as if it were an unfair favor?”
In response to Na’s question asking, “Do you still think the (then) indictment was correct?”, one candidate mentioned the fact that he had apologized that morning and said, “The indictment was made according to the law, and I do not know the details of whether or not the indictment was made and the content, but I feel sorry for those who sacrificed themselves for the party.” Regarding Na’s comment that “there was a similar discussion about making it a party line to request the Minister of Justice to drop the indictment,” he responded, “the cancellation of the indictment is not something that the Minister of Justice can decide.” Na criticized him, saying, “Your mind has not changed yet,” and “It seems like you are still a prosecutor.” Han countered by saying, “You are misunderstanding the duties of the Minister of Justice,” and “I do not agree that, as a person responsible for law enforcement, you should have carried out your duties as a comrade of the party.”
The controversial remark came during a televised debate the day before. When candidate Na asked, “When I was the Minister of Justice, I said I would indict and arrest former leader Lee Jae-myung, but the arrest warrant was rejected. Do you feel responsible or not?” candidate Han claimed, in the process of explaining that it was an individual case in which the minister could not intervene, that “candidate Na asked me to drop the indictment of his National Assembly fast-track collision incident.” In 2019, then floor leader Na occupied the National Assembly conference room in protest of designating the High-ranking Public Officials Corruption Investigation Office Act as a fast-track bill, and was subsequently indicted on charges of violating the National Assembly Advancement Act. As the controversy grew, candidate Han apologized on the 18th, a day after his remark, saying, “I apologize for being careless,” and “I did not intend to disparage those suffering from the fast-track collision incident.”
Amid the sudden emergence of a candidate’s revelations as a variable that will determine the final votes of the People Power Party’s national convention, the party member vote will begin on the 19th. The next party leader will be elected by reflecting 80% of the votes from the party member electoral college of about 840,000 people and 20% from the general public opinion poll. The party member electoral college vote will be conducted via mobile on the 19th and 20th and via the automatic response system (ARS) on the 21st and 22nd. A general public opinion poll will also be conducted on the 21st and 22nd. If no candidate receives a majority of the votes in the voting results announced on the 23rd, a runoff election will be held on the 28th of the same month between the top two candidates.
Reporter Cho Hye-seon, Donga.com hs87cho@donga.com
Source: www.donga.com
