'Resigned Supreme Council Member Vote and ARS Voting'... What Are the Key Issues in the Ruling Party's Emergency Committee Injunction?

Lee's side "Dismissal of the leader through the National Committee undermines party member democracy"
Pro-Lee Jun-seok faction Kukbase 1,558 members also file injunction today
Party side "Transition to emergency committee according to party rules... No legal issues"
Official response with lawyer appointment underway

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy reporters Lee Ji-eun and Kwon Hyun-ji] The unprecedented lawsuit battle between the ruling party and the party leader has intensified as former People Power Party (PPP) leader Lee Jun-seok filed an injunction lawsuit regarding the transition to the emergency response committee.

The ‘Gukbasae (Restoring the People Power Party)’, led by former PPP full-time deputy spokesperson Shin In-gyu, who is part of the ‘Pro-Lee Jun-seok faction,’ also submitted an injunction request to suspend the effectiveness of the PPP National Committee’s resolution to the Seoul Southern District Court on the 11th, following Lee. The PPP has hired lawyers to respond. Since the core of the lawsuit is whether the transition process to the emergency response committee secured ‘procedural legitimacy,’ a fierce debate around this issue seems inevitable.

Yoo Sang-beom, a lawmaker leading the party’s legal support team, officially announced legal action in a phone call on the same day, saying, "We have hired lawyers to respond to Lee’s injunction request." This move came immediately after Lee electronically filed an injunction to suspend the effectiveness of the emergency response committee against the PPP and Emergency Response Committee Chairman Joo Ho-young at the Seoul Southern District Court the day before.

Both sides are preparing legal arguments ahead of the court hearing scheduled for the 17th. Lee’s side argues that the dismissal of the party leader, who was elected at the party convention, through a subordinate body, the National Committee, violates ‘party member democracy.’ They also claim that the participation of Supreme Council members who had already declared their resignation in the Supreme Council resolution due to ‘lack of quorum’ and the ARS (Automated Response System) voting method used in the National Committee violated procedural democracy during the transition process to the emergency response committee.

Deputy spokesperson Shin criticized immediately after submitting the injunction request, saying, "Although the party leader dismissal procedure is stipulated in the party constitution and regulations, it was not followed, which infringes on the sovereignty of the party members, the owners of the party." Lee had previously criticized, "Why do we have to use ARS for the National Committee when dozens or hundreds gather in the National Assembly for study meetings?"

Joo Ho-young, Emergency Response Committee Chairman of the People Power Party, is volunteering for flood recovery in the basement of a building in Sadang-dong, Dongjak-gu, Seoul, which suffered significant damage due to heavy rain on the 11th. Photo by the National Assembly Press Photographers Group

The PPP maintains that there is no legal problem as the transition to the emergency response committee was made according to the party constitution and regulations. Lawmaker Yoo said, "The Standing National Committee made a ruling that the party is in an emergency situation, and based on that ruling, the National Committee was convened to appoint the emergency response committee chairman and amend the party constitution," adding, "It was not done by an abnormal method outside the party constitution and regulations." Article 96 of the PPP party constitution allows for an emergency response committee in case of emergency situations such as vacancy of the party leader or loss of Supreme Council functions, and the Standing National Committee is the body authorized to make such rulings. The ARS voting method was also used previously during the merger with the People’s Party.

There are also opinions that there is no legal defect regarding the Supreme Council resolution. Former prosecutor and lawmaker Jeon Ju-hye said in a phone call, "Since the resolutions were made at the Standing National Committee and the National Committee, whether the Supreme Council resolution was lawful or not is not important," adding, "Even if there was illegality in the Supreme Council resolution, it can be considered legally cured through the resolutions of the Standing National Committee and the National Committee."

However, there are internal opinions sympathetic to Lee’s view. Another former prosecutor lawmaker pointed out, "It is essentially a loyalist coup to dismiss the party leader, who was elected by all party members, through the interpretation of a subordinate body called the Standing National Committee by the Supreme Council members," and added, "Since the democratic operation of the party was fundamentally violated, the court will point out the illegality."

Accordingly, attention is also focused on the possibility of the court accepting the injunction. Deputy spokesperson Shin said about the court’s judgment, "In the past, when there were disputes over representative authority in the Uri Party and the Minsheng Party, the court intervened and accepted the injunction," suggesting a high possibility of acceptance. Lawmaker Cho Hae-jin said on a radio show the same day, "There is a problem in using the emergency response committee to automatically dismiss Lee," but regarding the possibility of injunction acceptance, he predicted, "Since the Standing National Committee avoided the ruling, it has become very ambiguous for the court to make a judgment even after accepting the lawsuit."

Lee has announced a press conference scheduled for the 13th. The PPP emergency response committee plans to complete the appointment of emergency response committee members and officially launch by early next week at the latest.