People Power Party Proposes One-on-One Debate Instead of Four-Party Debate on 31st
Democratic Party: "Let's Have Four-Party Debate on 31st and Then Separate One-on-One Debate"
People's Party: "Yoon Seok-yeol's Tactic to Prevent Standing Side by Side with Ahn Cheol-soo on Debate Stage"
[Asia Economy Reporters Naju-seok, Lee Gi-min, Park Joon-yi] The People Power Party has announced its intention to pursue a one-on-one debate with Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate, during this year's Lunar New Year holiday, instead of participating in a multi-party debate involving the four major presidential candidates. This insistence on a head-to-head confrontation between Yoon Seok-youl, the People Power Party candidate, and Lee, even at the cost of foregoing simultaneous broadcasts by the three major terrestrial broadcasters, is expected to cause political repercussions. The Democratic Party has opposed this, demanding that the multi-party debate be held first.
Yoon Seok-yeol, the People Power Party's presidential candidate, is answering reporters' questions after finishing the announcement of political pledges at the central party office in Yeouido, Seoul, on the 27th. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@
On the 27th, Seong Il-jong, a member of the People Power Party's TV debate negotiation team, held a press conference at the central party office in Yeouido, Seoul, stating, "We propose to the Democratic Party to hold a one-on-one debate on the 31st at the National Assembly building or a third location," adding, "Since the court's injunction decision was based on the significant impact on the election, we judge that a bilateral agreed debate, not involving broadcaster invitations, is permissible, and we propose to conduct the already agreed bilateral debate between the two parties." He also said, "I hope the Democratic Party will respond to the rule meeting even today."
The People Power Party's position is that there is no problem with holding a one-on-one debate as long as it is not the 'terrestrial broadcast debate' prohibited by the court. Especially since the one-on-one debate itself was agreed upon at the Democratic Party's request, they expect the Democratic Party to accept this proposal as well.
On the surface, the People Power Party is also leaving the door open for a multi-party debate. Seong said, "If desired, the four parties can meet to further discuss the agenda, timing, moderators, etc., and we will respond to requests for consultation." However, Seong also made it clear that the intention to push for a multi-party debate is not strong by mentioning, "There are already three court-ordered debates, so increasing the number would be just adding more."
In political circles, two interpretations arise regarding the People Power Party's choice. The first is to solidify the two-party structure and gain an advantageous position in unification talks with Ahn Cheol-soo, the People Party presidential candidate. Although both the People Power Party and the People Party officially reject this, the possibility of unification between Yoon and Ahn is already openly discussed in political circles. If Yoon and Ahn appear side by side in a TV debate, the topic of 'unification' is likely to be raised during Lunar New Year family discussions. For Yoon, the more he solidifies the one-on-one confrontation with Lee, the more he can quell Ahn's surge.
The Democratic Party responded to this proposal by stating, "Candidate Yoon should not ignore the court ruling and should first declare participation in the four-party broadcast debate, which is on the verge of being realized," adding, "We hope the four-party debate will take place as soon as possible on the 31st. The new one-on-one debate proposed by Yoon should be conducted in parallel with the four-party debate," expressing rejection.
Ahn Cheol-soo, the presidential candidate of the People’s Party, is attending the Central Election Countermeasures Committee meeting held at the National Assembly on the 27th and delivering an opening remark. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@
The People Party also strongly opposed the move. Lee Tae-gyu, head of the People Party's general election countermeasures headquarters, said, "The People Power Party's decision directly contradicts the court's injunction decision banning the bilateral TV debate made the day before." He added, "This decision aims to solidify the Yoon Seok-youl and Lee Jae-myung two-party structure and prevent Yoon from appearing alongside Ahn at the Lunar New Year family discussions," and said, "They are trying to block it because if public opinion forms that Ahn is better (through TV debates, etc.), they believe Yoon's side will collapse."
Additionally, it is expected that Yoon will focus on the confrontation with Lee, as he has been preparing to face Lee in a head-to-head debate. Yoon is known to have planned to lead the debate in a 'prosecutor' versus 'suspect' framework against Lee, who has been embroiled in the Daejang-dong development scandal. This implies that even if he gives up simultaneous broadcasts by the three major terrestrial broadcasters, he intends to stick to his original TV debate strategy.
Since the debate will not be hosted by the three major terrestrial broadcasters, it is believed that they consider achieving the desired broadcasting effect through retransmission by other broadcasters or via video clips, as the topic's appeal will not be diminished.
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