Primary Election Site, Atmosphere Resembling Presidential Run
Lee Jae-myung's Second Term... Expected Strengthening of Offensive Against the Opposition
The regional primaries for the Democratic Party's August 18 leadership election held over the weekend in five areas ended in a landslide victory for candidate Lee Jae-myung. Attempts to check the 'Lee Jae-myung one-pole system' were futile. Lee is likely to break the highest vote rate record in the Democratic Party leadership election that he set two years ago. Within the party, the term 'Eodaemyeong' (meaning "Lee Jae-myung will be the leader anyway") has been surpassed by 'Gudaemyeong' (Lee Jae-myung with a 90%+ vote rate).
On the 20th, in the party member votes held in Jeju and Incheon, and on the 21st in Gangwon and Daegu-Gyeongbuk, candidate Lee recorded a cumulative vote rate of 91.7%. Among the five regional primaries out of 17 regions, he secured over 90% of the votes in all except Jeju. The regional primaries resembled Lee’s presidential campaign sites. Regardless of the region, whenever Lee appeared at the primary venues, supporters chanted "Party Leader Lee Jae-myung!" overwhelming the atmosphere.
The leadership election was effectively led by pro-Lee and hardline party members. This was also evident in the vote rates for the Supreme Council candidates. Candidate Jeong Bong-ju, who had his nomination canceled during the last general election due to a controversy over a so-called 'crutch prize' remark, ranked first with a cumulative vote rate of 21.7%. Jeong’s high vote rate is seen as a result of the growing influence of hardline party members known as 'Gaeddal' within the party. Candidates Kim Byung-joo (16.17%), Jeon Hyun-hee (13.76%), Kim Min-seok (12.59%), and Lee Eon-ju (12.29%), who ranked second to fifth respectively, also emphasized pro-Lee marketing.
Lee Jae-myung presenting his policy platform(Daegu=Yonhap News) Photo by Hwang Subin = Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party of Korea's candidate for party leader, is presenting his policy platform at the joint speech event for party leader and supreme councilor candidates held at EXCO in Buk-gu, Daegu on July 21, 2024.
hsb@yna.co.kr
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If candidate Lee is re-elected as party leader by an overwhelming margin without any surprises, it is expected that the pressure of opposition attacks against the Yoon Seok-yeol administration will reach its peak. Lee himself emphasized at the venue, "If you give me another chance to work as party leader, I will build a more prepared Democratic Party that leads not only regime change but also an era change." The Democratic Party plans to immediately push for the opposition-only passage of key bills such as the Yellow Envelope Act and the Broadcasting Four Acts this week. A second hearing on the impeachment petition against President Yoon Seok-yeol has also been announced. This is a strategy to provoke repeated presidential vetoes on key bills, thereby increasing the burden on the government and ruling party.
There are also criticisms that the results of the two leadership elections deepen the gap between party sentiment and public opinion. The louder the voices of the pro-Lee hardline party members become, the greater the distance from the moderate and general public sentiment. Political commentator Park Sang-byeong said, "If candidate Lee Jae-myung’s goal is the presidential election, it is necessary to show the public an image of an alternative party through policies and other means."
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