Minsaengdang Spirals into Crisis... Chairman Replaced at the Supreme Council Meeting
[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] The Minsheng Party has yet to finalize its list of proportional representation candidates as of the morning of the 27th, the deadline for candidate registration for the April 15 general election. Criticism poured in from both inside and outside the party after the Nomination Management Committee placed Son Hak-gyu, the Standing Election Countermeasures Committee Chairman, at number 2 on the proportional representation list. When Co-Representative Kim Jeong-hwa requested a reconsideration from the committee, contact with Nomination Committee Chairman Ahn Byung-won and others was lost. Ultimately, the Supreme Council held an unprecedented emergency meeting to replace the Nomination Committee Chairman at the last minute.
Co-Representative Kim told reporters immediately after the recess of the closed Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly that morning, "Chairman Ahn has been unreachable for about 20 hours. It is practically akin to an accident. Therefore, we dismissed Chairman Ahn and appointed Nomination Committee member Kim Myung-sam as the new chairman." He added, "Once the Nomination Committee convenes, the final order will be confirmed, followed by a yes/no vote by the electorate, and the Supreme Council meeting will resume at 1:30 p.m."
Earlier, the Nomination Committee had finalized the proportional representation candidate list, including placing Chairman Son at number 2, but Co-Representative Kim requested a reconsideration. However, with Chairman Ahn and others unreachable, the committee lacked a quorum, preventing the meeting from taking place. This delay in finalizing the list also postponed the electorate's approval vote and the public announcement of the full list.
Initially, the Nomination Committee assigned number 1 to Jeong Hye-seon, a professor at the Catholic University School of Medicine, and numbers 3 and 4 to Co-Representative Kim and former Democratic Peace Party Supreme Council member Kim Jong-gu. Numbers 5 through 12 were reportedly assigned to former Bareunmirae Party Vice President Lee Haeng-ja, spokesperson Kang Shin-up, Eunpyeong district chairman Ko Yeon-ho, Supreme Council member Lee Gwan-seung, chief spokesperson Choi Do-ja, Secretary-General Hwang Han-ung, former Co-Representative Park Joo-hyun, and floor leader Jang Jeong-sook. Former Co-Representative Park Joo-hyun, who did not receive a winning position, announced that she had withdrawn her application for proportional representation nomination.
Criticism toward Chairman Son has come from all factions within the Bareunmirae Party, Alternative New Party, and Democratic Peace Party camps. Chairman Son applied for proportional representation nomination on the evening of the 25th, and the Nomination Committee reportedly conducted interviews in the early morning hours.
There are also criticisms that Chairman Son's long-emphasized generational change toward the future generation has been rendered meaningless. None of the youth future generation candidates were included within the top 10 of the Nomination Committee's proportional representation list. At a press conference marking his resignation as Bareunmirae Party leader on the 24th of last month, Chairman Son stated, "The future generation responsible for the future of the Republic of Korea must become the main actors in politics, achieve generational change, and revolutionize the outdated political structure. This is our way to survive."
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