"Strong Protest Against the Leadership's Undemocratic Decision-Making"
The proposal to change the presidential candidate, pushed by the People Power Party leadership, was rejected on May 10, prompting pro-Han Donghoon lawmakers to call for the resignation of floor leader Kwon Seongdong and the rest of the floor leadership team.
Sixteen lawmakers aligned with Han Donghoon issued a statement after the party-wide vote to replace presidential candidate Kim Moonsoo with former Prime Minister Han Ducksoo was rejected. They said, "The rejection of the emergency committee's decision to replace the candidate, due to opposition from party members, is a meaningful outcome that shows common sense is still alive in our party."
They continued, "It is not enough for only emergency committee chairman Kwon Youngse to step down," and urged, "We call for the joint resignation of floor leader Kwon Seongdong and the rest of the floor leadership, who have been deeply involved in this incident."
They added, "Through these measures, we strongly urge the restoration of the party's democratic order, which has been thrown into disarray, and the rebuilding of a foundation for victory in the presidential election, which is now just 24 days away." They emphasized, "Our party must now quickly reorganize and focus all efforts on the presidential election, which is only 24 days away."
The sixteen pro-Han Donghoon lawmakers also did not hold back criticism of the party leadership that pushed for the candidate change. They stated, "The emergency committee, as a provisional body, unilaterally replacing the party's presidential candidate in the early morning was a clearly flawed decision with procedural problems," and added, "The surprise replacement of the candidate is an unprecedented act of democratic destruction in the history of political parties. We strongly object to such undemocratic decision-making."
They further stated, "It was always going to be difficult for the unelected, provisional emergency committee to gain political legitimacy by overstepping its authority and replacing the candidate," and assessed, "This has now been proven through the party members' vote."
The statement was signed by sixteen pro-Han Donghoon lawmakers from the People Power Party, including Cho Kyungtae, Kim Sungwon, Song Seokjun, Seo Beomsoo, Park Jungha, Bae Hyunjin, Kim Hyungdong, Jung Sungkuk, Han Jia, and Woo Jaejun.
On this day, the People Power Party held a vote of all party members from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., asking whether to replace candidate Kim with former Prime Minister Han. The result was a majority opposing the change, leading to the proposal's rejection. As a result, Kim Moonsoo regained his status as the People Power Party's presidential candidate.
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