Transition to Emergency Committee for Justice Party... Will the Election Alliance Party Work in the General Election?

Leadership Resigns En Masse, Push for Election Alliance Party Ahead of General Election
Party Minority Faction: "Just for Election, Lacks Justification, Benefits, and Impact"

The Justice Party has transitioned to an emergency response committee system and decided to form an 'electoral alliance party' with progressive forces. The Lee Jeong-mi leadership, which had been pushing for innovative reestablishment over the past year, faced calls for resignation after receiving a poor result in the by-election for the mayor of Gangseo District, Seoul, and ultimately resigned en masse on the 6th.

However, internal opposition to the push for the electoral alliance party remains high, and internal strife continues. The concept of the electoral alliance party is that candidates from the Green Party, Progressive Party, Labor Party, and others will first join the Justice Party to contest the general election, then return to their original parties after the election, while continuing consultations on legislative activities.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Bae Jin-kyo, the floor leader who is acting as the interim representative until the formation of the Justice Party emergency committee, explained on MBC Radio on the 7th about the push for the electoral alliance party: "It is an electoral alliance party involving not only the Justice Party but several parties, and the goal is to fulfill their roles in the National Assembly. Therefore, after the electoral alliance party, each party will return to their original parties, and the activities in the National Assembly aim to form a unified negotiation group."

Regarding the future direction of the Justice Party, Floor Leader Bae said, "First of all, we have decided on three major directions within a broad framework. We have completed discussions selecting ten major tasks with a vision aiming for an ecological social state, an egalitarian social state, and a care social state" and "During the process of promoting the electoral alliance party, we plan to conduct broad discussions and develop detailed plans related to social vision."

However, the party's non-mainstream factions, including the Third Power and the Alternative New Party members' group, criticize it as no different from a 'satellite party for the general election' aimed solely at gaining seats without presenting the party's direction or vision. Justice Party lawmaker Jang Hye-young appeared on MBC's 'News Outside Focus' and called the electoral alliance party "a strategy without justification, practical benefit, or emotional appeal."

She said, "It can be evaluated as a strategy for the Green Party's entry into the National Assembly. However, there is actually no one who believes that a lot of synergy will come from an alliance between the Justice Party and the Green Party," adding, "Most people perceive it as an election strategy or political engineering rather than a value-first approach, so it is difficult to expect synergy."

The Alternative New Party members' group also released a statement criticizing, "The push for the electoral alliance party, which lacks justification and practical benefit, is merely a repetition of the predetermined failure of the National Committee's decision," and said, "Regardless of support or opposition, it is a substandard short-term general election plan no matter how you look at it."

They continued, "It is shocking that the final conclusion on the innovative reestablishment policy, which was resolved at the June 24 National Committee to overcome the painful defeats in last year's presidential and local elections, is the promotion of the electoral alliance party," and said, "'We have to do something'?this impatience and anxiety led to a hasty decision to promote an electoral alliance party without justification or practical benefit, which will ultimately be self-defeating."