Yoon Jae-ok: "Jo Guk's new party is greedy to get a pardon as a member of the National Assembly... will lose position if conviction is confirmed"

Regarding former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk's plan to establish a new political party, Yoon Jae-ok, floor leader of the People Power Party, criticized, "It is merely a personal desire to gain political immunity by using the position of a member of the National Assembly," adding, "Whether running in a constituency or through proportional representation, even if elected as a member of the National Assembly, the seat will be lost once the sentence is finalized."

On the 14th, Yoon made these remarks during the People Power Party's floor strategy meeting, pointing to Cho's declaration of founding a new party.

Yoon Jae-ok, floor leader of the People Power Party, is speaking at the floor countermeasure meeting held at the National Assembly on the 6th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

He stated, "The entire nation knows that former Minister Cho is a defendant who received a two-year prison sentence in the first and second trials for admission bribery and covering up Blue House inspections," and criticized, "Above all, Cho remains a figure symbolizing the Moon Jae-in administration, which was marked by double standards, leaving behind many contradictory statements." Regarding Cho's slogan of ending prosecutorial dictatorship as the reason for founding the new party, Yoon said, "It is nothing more and nothing less than a denial of reality, refusing to acknowledge his own criminal acts and the legitimate investigation by the prosecution."

He also pointed out that behind Cho's candidacy lies the Democratic Party's plan to adopt a mixed-member proportional representation electoral system. Yoon said, "The expectation of winning through the mixed-member proportional system created by the Democratic Party and the integrated proportional party has, in short, made it possible even for the absurd Cho Kuk new party to find footing," adding, "This farce is only just beginning. As candidate nominations intensify, it will become commonplace for candidates who are disqualified or lack competitiveness to appear under different party labels, flooding the political scene."

Lee Yang-su, senior deputy floor leader of the People Power Party, blamed the Democratic Party for the delay in electoral district delineation. Lee said, "With the National Assembly election just 56 days away, the delay in electoral district delineation is causing increased confusion among the public," and criticized, "The Democratic Party not only declared to maintain the semi-proportional representation system, which distorts the essence and purpose of proportional representation and causes political institutional deformity, but is also engaged in power struggles to delineate electoral districts in a way favorable only to themselves."

He continued, "Even now, after the Lunar New Year holiday, the districts have not been delineated, raising concerns about disruptions to the overall election schedule," and introduced, "There are even complaints from people saying they do not know if the business cards they handed out on their way to work this morning correspond to their actual electoral district." He added, "Electoral district delineation is the first button in implementing the democratic system of elections, carrying both symbolic and practical significance," and concluded, "Delaying the delineation of electoral districts and infringing on voters' rights is a dereliction of duty."