DP’s primary election could be postponed

May 10, 2021, 08:13 am

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Gyeonggi Province Gov. Lee Jae-myung, former DP chairman Lee Nak-yon, and former prime minister Chung Sye-kyun/ Images captured from Facebook

AsiaToday reporter Jeong Geum-min

As the May 2 party congress is over, the ruling Democratic Party’s (DP) clock is ticking toward the presidential election. At the moment, Gyeonggi Province Gov. Lee Jae-myung is topping several polls for presidential hopefuls within the liberal bloc. However, with just over a year left in President Moon Jae-in’s final term, the key variable is who would receive support from Moon Jae-in supporters. 

The latest party congress has confirmed the pro-Moon power occupying a significant number of supreme council members and rights members. They are expected to exercise their influence in the primary election process as well. According to the Special Party Regulations, the primary election is held as a national primary, where the rights party members and the supreme council members who are automatically entitled to vote, the general party members who have applied for the electoral group, and the people cast their ballots. 

There is no doubt that the biggest variable is who gets the support from Moon supporters among the three big presidential candidates, including Gyeonggi Province Gov. Lee Jae-myung, former DP chairman Lee Nak-yon, and former prime minister Chung Sye-kyun.

In this situation, the pro-Moon power does not have ‘confidence’ in the Gyeonggi governor. This is why pro-Moon lawmakers are claiming that the party’s primary election should be postponed. 

“The ruling party is going through tough times, and there is no reason to hurry the primary election,” said pro-Moon lawmaker Kim Doo-kwan in a breakfast with former prime minister Chung Sye-kyun on Saturday. “We have to seriously consider postponing the primary election to choose the party’s candidate for the next presidential election,” said pro-Moon lawmaker Chun Jae-soo. “The people are tired in the war against Covid-19, but if the DP holds the primary, it would become their own league,” he said.

According to the party constitution, the ruling DP should decide on a candidate for the upcoming presidential election in early September, but many pro-Moon DP lawmakers argue that the primary should be postponed to November, when the main opposition People Power Party decides its presidential candidate. On the surface, they are concerned about early checks and verification of the opposition bloc if the ruling party selects its presidential candidate before the opposition bloc picks its candidate. However, many observers say the move is intended to check governor Lee, the leading presidential hopeful.

Governor Lee’s side strongly protests that repeating the revisions of the party constitution and party regulations, which are considered one of the causes of the humiliating defeat in the April 7 mayoral by-elections, could once again intensify public distrust. They claim that pan pro-Moon candidates, such as Lee Nak-yon and Chung Sye-kyun, are trying to get some time to catch up with the governor’s approval ratings.

“Breaking the principles is the way to lower public trust,” said lawmaker Jung Sung-ho, who is known to be Lee Jae-myung’s supporter. “Postponing the primary election is like bringing defeat forward,” said lawmaker Min Hyung-bae, who has officially announced that he will support governor Lee.

Experts are divided on whether or not the primary should be delayed. “There are still pro-Moon hard-line rights party members within the ruling party. Governor Lee should let them postpone the primary free-handedly. Postponing the primary by months doesn’t change the world,” said Kim Hyung-joon, a political science professor at Myongji University. 

On the other hand, political commentator Lee Jong-hoon said, “Pro-Moon hard-liners are in a hurry now. Because they have to make time for the third c

#DP #primary election #Lee Jae-myung #pro-Moon 
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