Democratic Party Quickly Elects New Floor Leader... "Election on 26th at 2 PM"

The Democratic Party of Korea will elect its next floor leader on the 26th.

On the afternoon of the 22nd, the Democratic Party's Party Affairs Committee approved the agenda to form an Election Commission for the floor leader election at the National Assembly. The chairperson of the election commission will be Representative Byeon Jae-il, a five-term lawmaker, with Representative Song Ok-ju serving as secretary, and Representatives Choi Ki-sang, Han Jun-ho, and Hong Jeong-min participating as election commissioners.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

After the first meeting of the election commission, Commissioner Han stated, "The election date and time is Tuesday the 26th at 2 p.m.," adding, "The election notice will be issued immediately, and candidate registration will be accepted from today until Sunday (the 24th). Campaigning will take place for one day on the 25th, followed by the election on the 26th." He explained, "There will be a runoff vote if necessary, and if only one candidate runs, the candidate will be elected uncontested." Regarding the possibility of a consensus nomination, he said, "Since this is a by-election and the election period is very short, all factors must be considered," and added, "We need to see who registers as candidates."

Due to the sudden resignation of Floor Leader Park Kwang-on and the tight election schedule, no candidates have emerged so far.

However, the names of Representatives Hong Ik-pyo, Park Beom-gye, and Kim Du-kwan, who previously ran in the floor leader race, are being mentioned to some extent.