Park Ju-min, Lee Nak-yeon Side's Objection: "No Room for Alternative Interpretation of the Results"

Former Leader of the Democratic Party Lee Nak-yeon.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Seoyoung] As the camp of former Democratic Party leader Lee Nak-yeon plans to raise objections to the invalidation of votes cast for candidates who withdrew midway, the camp of Lee Jae-myung stated, "Even if objections are raised, there will be no room for alternative interpretations."

Today (the 11th), Park Jumin, the general director of Lee Jae-myung's camp and a Democratic Party lawmaker, said this during an appearance on KBS Radio's 'Choi Kyung-young's Strong Current Affairs.' Park said, "We (Lee Jae-myung's camp) cannot really say much about the act of raising objections itself," but added, "There was a similar controversy during the 2012 primary."

Park explained, "At that time, the second and third place candidates raised issues, asking if invalidating the votes obtained by those who withdrew midway would reduce the total number of votes and thus decide the candidate without a runoff," and added, "Back then, the votes were also handled as invalid in the same way as now." He continued, "The next time was last August, when the regulation was reconfirmed through a special party rule," and said, "So objections can be raised, but the party also sees no room for alternative interpretations."

When asked, "Isn't there a possibility that the former leader's camp might actually reject the primary results and file a lawsuit to follow the court's judgment rather than the party's decision?" Park replied, "That possibility exists, but in that case, the party would fall into a very chaotic situation." He added, "I hope they do not go as far as raising the issue in court," and said, "The party will likely play a role in that regard," and "We need to wait for the party's judgment."

Park also argued, "There was no content indicating any violation of procedures or processes," and said, "The former leader's side should accept the current results." He emphasized, "Since the party primary process has concluded, the party must create a 'one team,'" and added, "People in the camp also need to show a willingness to let go of everything and work to allow everyone to stand behind the party's candidate."

Earlier, the former leader's camp stated in a press release, "All lawmakers affiliated with the camp held an emergency meeting and decided to officially submit an objection letter regarding the invalidation of votes in the party's presidential primary to the party's election commission on the 11th according to the prescribed procedures." The former leader's side also said, "We have repeatedly raised that the invalidation of votes directly contradicts the original purpose of introducing a runoff vote," but expressed the position that this decision should not be excessively interpreted as rejecting the primary results.