[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] Controversy is escalating over the strategic nominations by the United Future Party. A prospective candidate competing in the same area has staged a solo protest against Rep. Lee Eon-ju's strategic nomination in Busan Jung-Yeongdo District, and Rep. Yoon Sang-hyun in Incheon Michuhol also opposed the nomination results and announced his intention to run as an independent.
On the 28th, Rep. Yoon expressed his protest against the Michuhol nomination results and declared his intention to run as an independent through his Facebook. On the same day, the nomination committee cut off (excluded) the incumbent Rep. Yoon and strategically nominated (priority recommendation) former Incheon Mayor Ahn Sang-soo for Incheon Michuhol.
Rep. Yoon argued, "More important than party sentiment is public sentiment," and said, "Despite the party audit results and opinion polls reflecting the residents' evaluation of these efforts, Yoon Sang-hyun was sacrificed and excluded from the nomination for election engineering reasons." He added, "Four years ago, I left the party and ran as an independent, receiving overwhelming support. I will again trust only the residents of Michuhol and run as an independent. Since coming to Michuhol, I have not gone back and forth to other areas. This is where I live and where I will die."
Rep. Yoon's cut-off was already anticipated when the nomination committee selected Michuhol as a priority recommendation area on the 21st. It appears that the committee held him responsible for the election defeat caused by the 'Jinbak nomination' controversy in the 20th general election.
The controversy over nominations is not limited to Incheon. On the 28th, Kwak Gyu-taek, a prospective candidate for the United Future Party in Busan Jung-Yeongdo District, held a solo protest in front of the National Assembly in Yeouido, holding a placard saying "Lee Eon-ju! Let's have a primary." On the 26th, Kwak also held a head-shaving ceremony near Busan Yeongdo Bridge and criticized Rep. Lee as a "political parasite." He demanded a fair primary, stating that he has devoted himself as the local party branch chairman. However, Kim Hyung-oh, chairman of the nomination committee, made remarks seemingly supporting Rep. Lee, saying, "We must remember those who threw their whole bodies into troubled times," and "We need to see what role they played in the recent three years of another democratization struggle."
Regarding the strategic nomination in Guro-eul District, prospective candidate Kang Yo-sik, a former party branch chairman, has voiced criticism. Kang criticized, "Excluding a challenger who has built a local base for over 10 years and bringing in a party divider is not a nomination but a secret nomination." The United Future Party nomination committee strategically nominated Rep. Kim as a challenger against Yoon Gun-young, former Blue House National Situation Room chief, who is running as a candidate for the Democratic Party in this area, but Kang said, "The strategic nomination helps Yoon Gun-young," and criticized, "Parachute trick politician Kim Yong-tae is not an assassin but will surely lose."
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