People Power Party Raises Party Member Vote Share to 70% in Local Election Primaries... Bonus Points for Young Newcomers

Party Member Vote Weight Increased from 50% to 70%

The People Power Party has decided to increase the proportion of party member votes in next year's local election primaries from the current 50% to 70%. In addition, young candidates will be granted up to a 20% bonus in the selection process.

On November 21, the Local Election General Planning Committee of the People Power Party held its fourth plenary session at the National Assembly and finalized these primary regulations.

The committee decided that, in the local election primaries, 70% of the outcome will be determined by the votes of the party member electoral college, while 30% will be based on public opinion polls. This raises the weight of party member votes by 20 percentage points.

Yonhap News Agency

To actively promote the inclusion of young and female newcomers, the committee decided to grant "quantitative bonus points." Specifically, newcomers under the age of 34 will receive a 20 percentage point bonus to their vote share, while those aged 35 to 44 will receive a 15 percentage point bonus.

The committee also plans to require not only incumbent members of metropolitan and basic local governments but also candidates for executive positions to undergo a "basic qualification assessment for public office candidates." The assessment will be divided into three areas: candidate competency evaluation, public office competency evaluation, and policy competency evaluation.

Guidelines for disqualification criteria have also been finalized. Acts such as corruption, undermining the separation of powers, destruction of the rule of law, abusive language, workplace abuse of authority, bribery, stock or real estate transactions under borrowed names, and hiring irregularities involving spouses or children will be included as disqualification criteria.

The party has also decided that the evaluation of party contributions will take into account criteria such as the recruitment of party members and the level of preparation for running in public elections.