26th Democratic Party Floor Leader By-election
"Maximum 29 Candidates... Winning Not Easy"
As the Democratic Party of Korea elects a new floor leader, four candidates classified as pro-Chinmyeong (pro-Lee Jae-myung) have thrown their hats into the ring, making the emergence of a pro-Myeong leadership a foregone conclusion.
On the 21st, the former floor leader Park Kwang-on and the floor leadership resigned en masse, taking responsibility for the passage of the arrest consent bill for Lee Jae-myung at the National Assembly plenary session. In response, the Democratic Party hastily formed an election management committee and finalized the election schedule to minimize the leadership vacuum. The by-election for the Democratic Party floor leader will be held on the 26th.
Four pro-Myeong senior lawmakers have declared their candidacy for the Democratic Party floor leader race: four-term lawmaker Woo Won-sik and three-term lawmakers Kim Min-seok, Nam In-soon, and Hong Ik-pyo. All of them are classified as pro-Chinmyeong.
Jeong Cheong-rae, a Supreme Council member of the Democratic Party of Korea, and others are attending the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the 22nd. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@
On the 25th, Seo Eun-sook, a Supreme Council member of the Democratic Party, appeared on CBS Radio's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show' and addressed criticism that the floor leader candidates are "all pro-Myeong," saying, "Whether the approval votes are 29 or 39, looking at the distribution of lawmakers, it is 136 to 30. It is only natural that more candidates come from the group of 136 than from the group of 30, in my opinion."
However, Seo also mentioned the possibility of some candidates dropping out during the primary.
There is also analysis that it would have been difficult to field anti-Myeong candidates given the mass resignation of the floor leadership following the passage of the arrest consent bill. Seo said, "Honestly, in the current atmosphere, I don't think those who cast approval votes, so-called anti-Myeong, are in a position to become floor leader."
Democratic Party lawmaker Cho Eung-cheon also said on KBS Radio's 'Choi Kyung-young's Strong Current Affairs' that "rational debate within our party is currently not possible," adding, "After the vote on the 20th, two party meetings continued late into the night, during which there were almost shouting matches and slanders."
He continued, "There were quite a few such people, and if the same scenes are repeated during the floor leader election party meeting when candidates present their platforms, it will not be good for the party," adding, "It probably won't proceed properly."
Cho also said, "The numbers were revealed in this vote on the arrest consent bill for Lee Jae-myung, roughly 39 at most," and "It won't be easy to win with about 39 votes."
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