2024-04-28 18:07:40
“It’s all ‘someone else’s business.’ “Even the senior leaders do not have a sense of ownership to rebuild the collapsed party.” (People Power Party official)
While the People Power Party has been experiencing ‘anomie’ for three weeks after its crushing defeat in the April 10 general election, such self-deprecating dissatisfaction emerged within the party as high-ranking officials with four or more terms in office one after another declined the position of chairman of the emergency response committee. Yoon Jae-ok, floor leader and acting party leader, plans to hold the third general meeting of elected candidates on the 29th and finalize the selection of the emergency chairperson. However, it has been reported that senior leaders expressed their disapproval over the two-month position of ‘temporary management-type emergency committee chairperson’ in preparation for the national convention to be held as early as the end of June. The pro-Yoon (pro-Yun Seok-yeol) camp also argued that “we can nominate practical personnel without being limited by the number of players.”
● Sa-Rae Son, “The burden is on a temporary chair with little authority.”
A key ruling party official said on the 28th, “Floor Leader Yoon persuaded Rep. Kwon Young-se and Rep. Park Jin to serve as emergency committee chairs, but both declined.” Rep. Kwon and Rep. Park, who served as the first Ministers of Unification and Foreign Affairs, respectively, during the Yoon Seok-yeol administration, were considered the right people to recover from the defeat in the general election as they were senior lawmakers who were knowledgeable and serious about their party’s duties. However, Rep. Park said in a phone call, “How can I serve as emergency chairperson before the shock of defeat in an election held in difficult terrain has even subsided?” and “Other capable, multi-term lawmakers should take over the position. I am not the right person, so I politely declined.” Rep. Kwon only said, “There was no (request).”
A ruling party official said, “There is no one with a sense of urgency or responsibility to save the party.” He added, “Everyone feels a sense of crisis because those who survived the election think, ‘I was re-elected, so that’s enough’ and ‘It is not my job to be responsible for the crushing defeat.’ “Even the expression seems hypocritical,” he said. The pro-Yun camp said, “There is no need to rely only on senior figures who say they will not do anything,” and added, “If you are the chairman of the emergency committee who is in charge of managing the holding of the national convention, there is no reason for multiple elections. There was an argument that “he can be temporarily entrusted to the position of a minister or a re-elected member of parliament who did not run for office.”
Rep. Gyeong-tae Cho, who succeeded in his sixth term, announced that he could serve as emergency committee chairman, although he had not received an official request from the party. Representative Cho said in a phone call with Dong-A Ilbo, “Everyone in the party is having a hard time right now, so if you make a suggestion, I am ready to step forward and dedicate myself to fixing the party.” Some in the ruling party say, “Another solution is to appoint Rep. Cho, who does not hesitate, as the chairman of the emergency committee.”
However, some say that it is not realistically easy for senior members of the party to accept this emergency chairmanship. This is because it is a ‘temporary representative’ position with a lot of responsibility and little authority in that it must focus on preparing for the next national convention while recovering from the crushing defeat in the general election. In particular, it is pointed out that it will not be easy to coordinate this as there continues to be differences of opinion between pro-Yoon faction versus non-Yoon faction and metropolitan area vs. non-metropolitan area personnel over whether to revise the party representative primary rule of ‘100% party member voting’ during the national convention.
● Even after 8 meetings and 2 seminars, I still can’t figure it out.
In the three weeks following the general election, the People Power Party held eight public meetings at the party level to diagnose the party’s future recovery plan and the cause of the crushing defeat, but was unable to reach any conclusion. There were two meetings with senior officials presided over by floor leader Yoon, and a general meeting of elected candidates and a meeting of unsuccessful candidates were held twice and once, respectively. In addition, a meeting with party seniors, a luncheon with first-time elected officials, and a seminar hosted by the Yeouido Research Institute were held, but no solution was found. Even in two separate seminars held by Rep. Sang-Hyun Yoon, only bitter criticism towards the party continued.
For this reason, there are concerns that floor leader Yoon may not be able to reach a conclusion on a solution plan at the general meeting on the 29th. One lawmaker said, “It hurts my pride to be ridiculed as an incompetent political party that can’t even serve as the head of the emergency committee,” and added, “This situation must come to an end on the 29th.”
Reporter Shin Na-ri [email protected]
Reporter Kwon Gu-yong [email protected]
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2024-04-28 18:07:40