Democratic Party Moves Toward By-election Nomination... "Will Decide Through All-Member Vote"

-This Weekend, All Party Members Vote on Party Charter Amendment
-"Ruling Party Fielding a Candidate to Face Public Judgment Aligns with Responsible Politics Principles"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Nahum] The Democratic Party of Korea has decided to determine whether to nominate candidates for the Seoul and Busan mayoral by-elections through a vote by all party members.

Choi In-ho, the chief spokesperson for the Democratic Party, stated at a briefing held at the National Assembly that "Representative Lee Nak-yeon, after a resolution at the Supreme Council meeting this morning, decided to proceed with nominating candidates for next year's by-elections through a vote by party members and all party members by amending the party constitution."

Spokesperson Choi explained, "There were many concerns ahead of the by-elections, but this is a political decision to fulfill our responsibility as a ruling party and a public party. This vote by all party members is a procedure to confirm the will of the party members on whether it is necessary to amend the party constitution to nominate candidates for next year's by-elections."

After the briefing, when meeting with reporters, Spokesperson Choi said, "The question for the party member vote will be whether they agree that amending the party constitution is necessary to nominate candidates," adding, "As a public party and the ruling party, it is more in line with the principles of responsible politics to nominate candidates and be judged by the people rather than not nominating candidates."

Regarding whether candidates will be nominated for both Seoul and Busan, he answered, "We will nominate candidates for both Seoul and Busan."

Article 96, Clause 2 of the Democratic Party's constitution states that no candidates shall be nominated in by-elections caused by the 'serious misconduct' of a party-affiliated local government head. Since the late Park Won-soon, former mayor of Seoul, and Oh Keo-don, former mayor of Busan, stepped down amid sexual harassment controversies, the Democratic Party should not nominate candidates according to the party constitution.

In this regard, Representative Lee said, "We sincerely apologize again to the citizens of Seoul and Busan and the public for causing a governance vacuum and holding by-elections due to the misconduct of mayors affiliated with our party," adding, "Especially, I wholeheartedly apologize to the victims."

The party member vote will be held online over two days from the 30th to the 31st. If the nomination of candidates is confirmed through the vote, the Democratic Party will begin the process of amending the party constitution by adding a proviso starting next week.