Lee Sang-gyu, a ‘pro-Yoon’: “Why are you shooting at the president?”
‘Close’ Park Jeong-hoon “Purity of General Election White Paper Suspicious”
“Awareness Battle”… ‘One Person, Two Votes’ Could Be a Variable
With the July 23 People Power Party National Convention approaching in a week, attention is also focused on the Supreme Council elections that will determine the next leadership structure. Just as the party leadership candidate elections are being played out as a ‘Han Dong-hoon vs. anti-Han Dong-hoon’ race, the Supreme Council elections are also taking on the appearance of proxy wars among the candidates for party leadership.
On the 16th, the People Power Party held a televised debate for the Supreme Council candidates through the party’s YouTube channel. In the debate, the “anti-Han” (anti-Han Dong-hoon) candidates focused on “bashing Han Dong-hoon,” while the “pro-Han” (pro-Han Dong-hoon) candidates Jang Dong-hyeok and Park Jeong-hoon focused on “protecting Han Dong-hoon.”
Na Kyung-won (from left), Yoon Sang-hyun, Han Dong-hoon, and Won Hee-ryong, the People Power Party’s representative candidates, are moving to take a commemorative photo at the joint speech of Daejeon, Sejong, North Chungcheong, and South Chungcheong Provinces at the 4th National Convention of the People Power Party held at the Yu Gwan-sun Gymnasium in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province on the afternoon of the 15th. Newsis
The attacks from the anti-Korean candidates were mainly focused on the third-party recommendation method proposed by one candidate, the special prosecutor’s law for Private First Class Chae, and the Sacheon suspicions surrounding Han’s candidacy. Lee Sang-gyu, known as the pro-Yoon (pro-Yoon Seok-yeol) candidate, directly attacked Jang, saying, “You must know that the special prosecutor’s law for Marines is aimed at the president,” and “I don’t know why you are interfering with the shooting at the president.” In Yo-han, the running mate of Won Hee-ryong, the party leader candidate considered the “Yoonsim” (President Yoon Seok-yeol’s intention) candidate, indirectly criticized, saying, “There are many questionable stories about not releasing the white paper.”
Candidates Jang and Park, who are part of Team Han Dong-hoon, actively defended Candidate Han’s responsibility for the general election. Candidate Park pointed out, “The white paper led by Chairman Cho Jeong-hoon of the General Election White Paper Special Committee and Rep. Lee Cheol-gyu can be seen as targeting Candidate Han, but its purity is questionable.” Candidate Jang said, “There were parts where we were at odds with the presidential office, and there were parts where it was well-sealed and led to a rise in approval ratings. Whether it had an impact on the election should be looked back on by looking at the entire election.”
Within the party, there is an assessment that the stability of the next leadership depends on the results of the Supreme Council election. The party leader needs to secure a majority in the Supreme Council by making three members, including himself, the policy committee chairman with the authority to appoint, and the appointed Supreme Council members, as well as at least two elected Supreme Council members, his allies. The reason why the composition of the leadership is important is not only in terms of exercising voting rights, but also because it can be converted into an emergency response committee if four out of five elected Supreme Council members resign. A party leadership official said, “In order for one candidate to become the leader and properly run the party, at least two ‘close’ candidates should join the leadership.”
In this convention, five supreme council members will be elected along with the party leader, and according to the party constitution and rules, one of the four supreme council members must be a woman. With the election of Rep. Kim Min-jeon, the only female supreme council member candidate, virtually certain, eight supreme council members, excluding Rep. Kim, will compete for the three remaining seats.
Within the party, there is speculation that candidates Jang Dong-hyeok, In Yo-han, and Kim Jae-won have a high chance of entering the leadership. A member of the People Power Party said, “The election for the Supreme Council is a battle of name recognition.” Among the youth Supreme Council members, the only incumbent member and running mate of candidate Han, Jin Jong-oh, is expected to be elected.
However, there are many opinions that the Supreme Council member election may produce unexpected results, as it is conducted with ‘one person, one vote’, unlike the party leader and youth Supreme Council member elections, where ‘one person, one vote’. There was an unexpected turn of events in the March 8th convention last year, when former lawmaker Tae Young-ho, who had not performed well in the polls, was elected as a Supreme Council member.
Reporter Yoo Ji-hye keep@segye.com
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Source: www.segye.com
