A nonsensical standard for nomination

The DP must stop the shameful fight if it really wants to win the upcoming election.

A weird battle is being waged again in the Democratic Party (DP) ahead of nominations for the April 10 parliamentary elections. An increasing number of lawmakers close to DP leader Lee Jae-myung are aiming to run in constituencies of their colleagues not loyal to Lee. On Tuesday, Rep. Yang Yiwonyoung, a proportional representative, declared that she would run in a district in Gyeonggi, represented by a DP lawmaker not close to the party leader. Yang denounced the legislator for “voting for an arrest warrant for the DP leader” last year for the prosecution’s investigation into allegations against Lee. Yang, the proportional representative, urged party members to sternly punish any DP lawmakers who had disapproved of their own leader in times of crisis.

On Monday, Rep. Lee Soo-jin, another proportional representative close to the DP leader, announced that she would run in a constituency, Gyeonggi — represented by Rep. Yoon Young-chan, also not loyal to the party leader — after reversing her earlier promise to run in a district in Seoul. The proportional representative has no connection to the constituency in Gyeonggi. Party insiders attribute her about-face to the party leadership’s encouragement of her to run in the constituency after a close aide to the party leader dropped from the race over his sexual harassment against a DP member. Rep. Yoon served as the senior communication secretary under President Moon Jae-in, but is not close to the DP leader.

Such cases are abundant. In December, even a strange list of nominees in the Honam region was released to prompt strong resistance from incumbent lawmakers. The DP nominates candidates in parliamentary elections by reflecting their popularity in opinion polls by 50 percent and reflecting the support from DP members with voting rights by another 50 percent. But because a large share of those members with voting rights are avid followers of the DP leader, candidates cannot win a nomination without their support.

If a political party nominates candidates based on personal connections with the party leader, instead of their vision, ability or morality, it is a private party, not a public one. We clearly saw what results such an off-track standard led to when it prevailed in the Saenuri Party in the 2016 legislative elections. The governing party suffered a landslide defeat against the opposition. Voters hate arrogance most. The DP must stop the shameful fight if it really wants to win the upcoming election.