PPP lawmakers take wait-and-see stance on Jang's reform push

A lukewarm mood appears to be spreading among sitting People Power Party lawmakers toward the party reform agenda being pushed by PPP leader Jang Dong-hyeok.

Open opposition had quieted after the party leadership moved to phase in a direct membership vote for constituency committee chairs — a proposal that had drawn pushback from sitting lawmakers. However, participation in a separate opinion-gathering process to establish evaluation criteria for elected officials has also been sparse, suggesting that many incumbents are choosing to watch and wait rather than actively engage.

According to political sources, the PPP's Evaluation Reform Task Force, set up to develop a performance assessment system for elected officials, recently extended its deadline for member submissions from Aug. 18 to Monday. The TF held an internal meeting and decided to push back the cutoff after finding that responses from lawmakers had been thin.

A staffer at the office of a senior lawmaker said it was awkward for members to actively weigh in on the very criteria that would be used to evaluate them. Some lawmakers' offices were said to have submitted their views through their district offices rather than directly.

Party leadership, however, said it would be a stretch to read the low response rate as opposition to the reform itself. "There have been no objections to the idea of establishing evaluation criteria to reorganize the party," a leadership official said. "We extended the deadline to give members enough time and a full opportunity to share a range of views."

Jang launched the Evaluation Reform TF in July, pledging to build a "member-centered party." Secretary-General Jung Seok-jun chairs the TF. At its second meeting on Aug. 11, Jung said the process would be open to metropolitan and local council members, heads of local governments, and National Assembly members if needed, and that input from non-incumbent constituency committee chairs would also be collected.

Within the party, there are signs that many members prefer to observe how things unfold rather than throw their weight behind Jang's reform drive. Sitting lawmakers who serve as constituency committee chairs had voiced open opposition at a general assembly meeting to Jang's proposal for direct membership elections for those posts. But after the Supreme Council decided Monday to introduce the system gradually, starting with vacant constituencies, the resistance appeared to subside.

Another lawmaker said Jang had clashed with senior and constituency-based members who harbored practical concerns as he pressed ahead under the banner of a member-centered party. "The fact that opposition voices disappeared after the phased approach was announced — isn't that ultimately lawmakers calculating how it will affect their own nominations and waiting to see?" the lawmaker said.

Party leadership said it would continue gathering input from lawmakers as it presses ahead with the reorganization effort. At a press conference marking his first anniversary in office on Tuesday, Jang said he would "restructure the party in line with the values conservatism demands of this era" and pledged to build a new evaluation system covering National Assembly members, regional government heads, local government heads and local council members.