People Power Party's 'Primary Rules' War Begins... Fierce Strategy Battle Ahead of 'Yoon's Party Entry'

Disagreement Over 100% Poll Cutoff in First Primary
Election Commission: "No Application of Reverse Vote Prevention Clause" vs Lee Jun-seok: "Will Order Review for Introduction"

[Asia Economy Reporters Naju-seok and Park Jun-i] The People Power Party has entered the stage of serious discussions on the presidential primary rules. The Democratic Party of Korea went through a rough patch over the ‘rules,’ including postponing the primary, but the People Power Party, with relatively fewer contentious issues, also faces its own hidden challenges. First, the expected entry of former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol early next month could be a variable. Meanwhile, the People Power Party’s Primary Preparation Committee will gather the party’s presidential candidates in one place for the first time on the afternoon of the 29th to collect opinions on the primary method.

People Power Party Seo Byung-su, Chair of the Primary Preparation Committee [Image source=Yonhap News]

Currently, a strategic battle over the primary rules has begun within the party. The urgent controversy concerns the voting method for the first preliminary primary (cutoff) scheduled for September 15. On the 27th, the Primary Preparation Committee decided to apply a ‘100% public opinion poll’ method for the cutoff, but there is backlash claiming it is a special privilege for external candidates. Analysts suggest that lowering the party member ratio, which accounted for 50% according to party rules, could favor former Board of Audit and Inspection Chairman Choi Jae-hyung or former Prosecutor General Yoon, who have weaker support bases within the party.

For now, the official stance of the presidential candidates is to ‘follow the party’s decision.’ The camp of People Power Party lawmaker Hong Joon-pyo stated, “The first cutoff should be conducted as decided by the Primary Preparation Committee, but from the second round onward, it should follow the party rules.” Former lawmaker Yoo Seung-min’s camp expressed interest in expanding opportunities to introduce candidates, such as increasing debates. However, former Incheon Mayor Ahn Sang-soo criticized the exclusion of party members’ opinions in the first cutoff as “a special privilege for candidates outside the party” and said it was “not right.” In response, Seo Byung-soo, chairman of the Primary Preparation Committee, said on a radio program on the 29th, “The decision was not made considering Yoon’s entry,” but also clearly acknowledged awareness of his entry by saying, “If Yoon enters, wouldn’t it be appropriate for him to run as candidate number 2?”

Although affiliated with the People Power Party, former Chairman Choi, who recently joined the party, said, “As a latecomer, it is difficult to talk about advantages or disadvantages,” and added, “Since the Primary Preparation Committee made the decision, there was little room for our opinions to be reflected.” They believe the committee did not specifically decide on the 100% public opinion poll cutoff to favor former Chairman Choi.

The issue of the reverse selection prevention clause, which excludes public opinion against the People Power Party, is also controversial. Initially, the Primary Preparation Committee leaned toward not applying the reverse selection prevention clause. However, after the party’s Supreme Council meeting on the same day, People Power Party leader Lee Jun-seok said, “I will issue instructions to review the introduction of the reverse selection prevention clause.”

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The Primary Preparation Committee must finalize the rules before the ‘primary bus’ departs at the end of August, so it plans to quickly conclude discussions starting early next month. In addition to reconsidering the introduction of the reverse selection prevention clause, remaining tasks include the voting method for the second cutoff, whether to adopt a runoff voting system, and opening the party membership enrollment. The runoff voting system, which holds a final runoff among the top candidates if no one achieves a majority, is expected to be controversial. While runoff voting guarantees excitement, it is not easily accepted by frontrunners. Introducing runoff voting would also require amendments to the party rules. Furthermore, opening the party membership enrollment by lowering the threshold for responsible members has been criticized as potentially favoring candidates outside the party who enjoy strong support from the general public.