Ha Heon-sik, the People Power Party's constituency committee chair for Seo-gu Gap in South Jeolla Province and Gwangju, declared his candidacy Monday for chair of the party's South Jeolla-Gwangju Integrated Special City chapter.
Ha held a press conference that day at the briefing room of the Gwangju office of the South Jeolla-Gwangju Integrated Special City Council. He said "new wine must be put in new wineskins" and that a fresh face should lead the inaugural integrated city chapter. He said it would be wrong for figures who had already served as provincial party chair four times or city party chair twice to take the helm of the integrated chapter, and he called on rival candidates to hold an open debate.
The People Power Party's South Jeolla-Gwangju Integrated Special City chapter will hold a National Election Commission meeting Thursday to finalize election-related matters, including the candidate registration fee and registration procedures. Delegates will then elect the integrated city chapter chair July 28-29.
Ha said, "Changing generals in the middle of a war means defeat," and pledged to take the lead in defending party leader Jang.
He said he had long advocated bringing a Honam semiconductor complex to the site of the Gwangju military airport, and pledged to convey the region's voice to the central party without filtering.
sij@heraldcorp.com
