PPP's rule change to elect next leader causes divide within party

The conservative People Power Party (PPP) began Tuesday the process of revising its party rules to elect its next chairman only by a vote of party members, without public opinion polls, a move that is causing division within the PPP.

Lawmakers of the People Power Party (PPP) hold a standing national committee meeting to begin the process of revising party rules to elect the party’s new chairman only by a vote of party members, without public opinion poll, at the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul, Tuesday. [YONHAP]

The conservative People Power Party (PPP) began Tuesday the process of revising its party rules to elect its next chairman only by a vote of party members, without public opinion polls, a move that is causing division within the PPP.

On Monday, the PPP's emergency steering committee decided to elect its new chief in the PPP convention next year with "100 percent votes by party members." Under the current party rules, the PPP's chairman and Supreme Council members are selected 30 percent by public opinion poll results and 70 percent by party member ballots.

Chung Jin-suk, the PPP interim chief, said that the party's emergency steering committee unanimously agreed to a revision to the party charter to scrap the general public survey. He claimed the move was about party ownership, enabling the members of the party with similar ideology and goals to decide on their leadership.

The general public survey was first introduced by the Grand National Party, the predecessor to the PPP, in 2004.

On Tuesday morning, the PPP convened a standing national committee at the National Assembly and passed the proposal to amend the party charter to change the voting system for its new leadership.

Of the 55 members of the committee, 39 attended and 35 voted in favor of the revision.

The PPP national committee is expected to be convened on Friday to decide on the revision to voting rules.

The PPP also said if there is no candidate with a clear majority, a runoff will be held between the two candidates with the highest number of votes.

This would be the first time for the conservative party to introduce a runoff where the first- and second-place candidates will undergo a two-way race if one doesn't exceed 50 percent in the primary race for PPP chairmanship.

The PPP's race for a new leader is expected to unfold next month, ahead of its party convention expected to be held early March.

In early July, the PPP's ethics committee suspended former chairman Lee Jun-seok's party membership for six months over allegations of sexual bribery and a cover-up attempt, and the party launched a new emergency steering committee the next month, effectively ousting Lee, whose two-year term was set to run until next year.

In September, Chung became interim chief of the PPP, to lead the party until next year's party convention.

"The purpose of the amendment to the party charter is to establish party democracy and prevent distortion of party aims," Chung said Tuesday. "Since the party members are the owners of our party, we must elect the leadership that our party members want."

He stressed the importance of the next chairman to "support the victory in the upcoming general elections and the success of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration."

However, some members of the party are protesting the revision, voicing concerns that it will only benefit those who are close to President Yoon Suk-yeol.

Those who are out of the faction of members close to Yoon expressed worries about being excluded from the PPP leadership race, such as former lawmaker Yoo Seong-min.

Noting that there are around 800,000 party members, Yoo said in a KBS interview Monday, "If the party sentiment reflects public sentiment, isn't it contradictory to try to eliminate public sentiment now?"

He said the 100 percent party member vote rule is a way for Yoon's faction "to kill one individual, Yoo Seong-min," noting he has been doing well in popularity polls.

"To out things crassly, the election of a party chief should not be an election to pick an alleyway boss or the head of a social gathering," PPP Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo told KBS radio Monday, criticizing the voting rule change.

Ahn said he is worried the rule change will not be helpful to the general elections in 2023, nor public opinion toward the party and the president, pointing to the 18 year tradition of the public survey being counted in the votes.

Clapping back at Ahn's remarks about the alleyway boss, PPP Rep. Kim Gi-hyeon, another potential chairman candidate, wrote in a Facebook post Tuesday, "The owners of the party are the party members. It's surprising there are people who insist on arguing over common sense."

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]