Party to hold lawmaker meetings by seniority to resolve leadership row; Han Dong-hoon's return 'a matter for comprehensive judgment'
People Power Party floor leader Jeong Jeom-sik said Sunday that the intraparty dispute over party leader Jang Dong-hyeok's future must be resolved quickly, noting that "many lawmakers and members of the public feel this situation needs to be brought to a close as soon as possible."
Appearing on MBN's "Jeong Un-gap's In-Depth Analysis," Jeong was asked whether the question of Jang's resignation would be settled before the end of the year. He said it would be "somewhat difficult to resolve in a short time," given that Jang had said the party should focus on fighting back against public anger over what he described as violations of voting rights. Jeong drew a clear line against talk in some quarters of Jang staying on until February next year. "There's no way it can go all the way to February next year," he said.
Jeong said the party must take seriously the warning voters delivered during the recent local elections. "We need to listen to the voices calling for personnel changes in the leadership, including calls for the party leader to step down," he said.
He stressed, however, that the situation must not be seen as a party split, and that the party must use it as an opportunity to chart a shared direction. He added that the party plans to hold meetings with lawmakers grouped by seniority to gather opinions from members and party delegates before moving toward a resolution on the leadership question.
On the PPP's election appeals filed over results in Seoul and six other areas, Jeong said the move was not a rejection of the election outcome but an effort "to verify through proper legal and procedural channels the substance of the voting-rights violations that have angered the entire nation." He rebuffed the Democratic Party of Korea's characterization of the appeals as a challenge to the election results or a claim of electoral fraud, calling it "excessive political posturing," and said he was confident "not a single PPP lawmaker would endorse a stolen-election narrative."
On the possibility of by-elections, Jeong said any judgment must be grounded in current law. He left the door open, saying that once parliamentary investigations and a special prosecutor probe determine whether ballot shortages and the resulting delays and suspensions affected election outcomes, "re-votes in some precincts in some areas could be discussed based on those findings." He rejected the opposition's push for a single-issue constitutional amendment targeting the National Election Commission, saying he did not agree with "bringing up a single-issue constitutional revision for every issue that comes along," and instead called for comprehensive discussions through a special constitutional reform committee.
On the question of whether independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon should be allowed to rejoin the party, Jeong said the fact that the issue had not come up at a general assembly meeting was itself "proof that the timing and procedures are not yet ripe." He acknowledged that "most people would agree Han is one of the pillars of conservatism," but said he was concerned the issue could reignite internal conflict. He drew a line, saying it was a matter to be decided by weighing party members' views and the appropriateness of the timing together.
Jeong shrugged off the special prosecutor team's recent sentencing recommendation of one year and six months in prison for Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon on charges of having polling costs paid on his behalf. "I don't think we need to react in any particular way," he said. A special prosecutor's sentencing demand was "simply the special prosecutor's opinion on the case," he added, saying what mattered was the court's ruling. He said he expected the court to exercise sound judgment.
hwshin@heraldcorp.com
