Ruling Party Innovation Committee: "All District Strategic Nominations Completely Excluded... 'Fair Primary Elections'" (Comprehensive)

4th Innovation Plan 'Morality'... Yongsan Personnel Also
Strict Primary Without Exception... Strict Cutoff

The People Power Party Innovation Committee proposed an innovation plan that calls for the complete exclusion of strategic nominations in all constituencies for next year's general election to ensure a 'fair primary.' The innovation plan approved by the committee includes wording to exclude 'strategic nominations of personnel from the Presidential Office.'

On the 17th, the Innovation Committee announced at the People Power Party headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, that it had approved the innovation plan titled 'Fair Competition through Bottom-up Nominations.' Innovation Committee member Lee So-hee stated at a briefing, "To ensure fair competition, personnel from the Presidential Office must also participate in fair primaries without exception," adding, "Strategic nominations must be completely excluded in all constituencies."

The Innovation Committee emphasized 'public sentiment' as the reason for recommending the complete exclusion of strategic nominations, including those from the Presidential Office. Member Lee said, "Ultimately, our Innovation Committee follows the will of the people and aligns with their expectations," and added, "The public wants fair competition."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The specific rules for bottom-up nominations will be entrusted to the Nomination Management Committee. Innovation Committee member Kim Kyung-jin explained, "Details such as the percentage of public sentiment, party sentiment, responsible party members, and general party members will be comprehensively determined by the Nomination Management Committee," and added, "The core of today's Innovation Committee decision is to create and operate a nomination system that reflects the sentiments of party members and local residents rather than nominations imposed from above."

Questions were raised about whether it is fair to require primaries even for senior members who have accepted the Innovation Committee's second innovation plan, which calls for 'senior and leadership members to run in challenging districts' and who have prepared for sacrifice. In response, the Innovation Committee said, "Senior members likely have nationwide name recognition and networks, and their capabilities have been enhanced," adding, "Although their competitiveness in the district itself may decline compared to before, in a broader sense, it can be interpreted as encouraging senior members to maximize their capabilities in new districts to secure even one more party seat."

Regarding concerns that banning strategic nominations to ensure 'winning elections' might weaken the party's competitiveness in the general election, the committee drew a clear line, stating it would be 'much more advantageous for the overall election.' Innovation Committee member Kim Kyung-jin said, "While strategic nominations might be necessary when viewed individually, if the judgment on such nominations is wrong, it could disrupt the nationwide election landscape and cause controversy and noise regarding party nominations."

He added, "Even if the necessity of strategic nominations is recognized when looking at a single election, from a broader perspective, we judged that completely excluding strategic nominations would be much more advantageous for the overall election."

The Innovation Committee plans to directly explain the innovation plan related to nominations to the Nomination Management Committee once it is formed. Member Kim said, "Even if the Innovation Committee's term has ended, one of the members will go to the Nomination Management Committee to thoroughly explain the discussions held in our Innovation Committee, the proposals sent to the Supreme Council, and the background of those discussions," adding, "We intend to request that this intent be fully considered and reflected when creating nomination-related regulations."

Exclusion from Nomination for Social Controversies, Damage to Party Honor, and Criminal Records of Imprisonment or Higher

The Innovation Committee also included strict cutoff criteria in its fourth innovation plan announced that day. The committee member said, "We propose excluding from nominations anyone who has caused social controversies, damaged the party's honor, or has a criminal record of imprisonment or higher," adding that specific cutoff criteria will be determined by the Nomination Management Committee.

The criterion of 'imprisonment or higher' was explained as reflecting the public's standards. The committee member elaborated, "We judged that this level corresponds to serious crimes and that such a standard is necessary to meet the public's expectations."

When asked whether the announced content was similar to the 'New Four Major Evils Nomination Exclusion' announced by the People Power Party's General Election Planning Team, the Innovation Committee responded, "This was not coordinated in advance," and said, "We could not omit the aspect related to morality when presenting nomination rules, so we made this proposal." The General Election Planning Team had announced the day before that individuals involved in the four major crimes?secondary sexual assault, workplace harassment, school violence, and drug crimes?would be excluded from nominations in next year's general election.

The Innovation Committee plans to report the fourth innovation plan approved that day to the Supreme Council meeting on the 23rd.