Song Young-gil, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea. yunhap news
On the 10th, Song Young-gil, chairman of the Democratic Party of Korea, announced that he would not run for the next general election. He announced that he would not run candidates for three constituencies in the by-elections held along with the March 9 presidential election, including in Jongno, Seoul. He also said that he would expedite the expulsion of lawmakers such as Yoon Mi-hyang and Lee Sang-jik, and institutionalize the ban on three-term or higher middle-level lawmakers from running in the same constituency. It is interpreted as a high-intensity reform measure at the Democratic Party level to escape from the recent stagnant approval rating of presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung.
Chairman Song held a press conference at the party office in Yeouido, Seoul on the same day and said, “There are voices criticizing inside and outside the party that the 586 generation has become a vested interest. He declared that he would not run for the next general election in 2024. CEO Song is a politician who was elected five times in Gyeyang-eul, Incheon. As CEO Song, one of the representatives of the 86 Group, took the initiative and declared not to run for the general election, attention is being paid to whether it will lead to a personal renewal within the party.
“The Democratic Party will not nominate candidates for the three by-elections in Jongno, Seoul, Anseong, Gyeonggi, and Cheongju, Chungcheongbuk-do,” Song said. There are a total of five constituencies for the parliamentary by-election held at the same time as the presidential election, and among them, the Democratic Party declares that it will not nominate in three of the districts that are attributable to the by-election. The remaining two places (Secho-gap, Seoul and Jung/Nam-gu, Daegu) are expected to be nominated for no attributable reason. Song said, “Although giving up the nomination is a painful decision right now, it will serve as an opportunity for our Democratic Party to grow one step further as a responsible party.”
Regarding the independent lawmakers Yoon Mi-hyang and Lee Sang-jik, who dropped out of the Democratic Party following being tried on charges of personal corruption, he said, “I will expel the proposal quickly.” They demanded the participation of the people, saying that we should also deal with the expulsion proposal of independent lawmaker Park Deok-heum, who came from the power of national power.
In addition, Chairman Song said that he would institutionalize the ban on running for more than four terms in the same constituency proposed by the Democratic Party’s Party Innovation Promotion Committee earlier, and that he would make sure that at least 30% of all metropolitan and basic lawmakers in the local elections in June would be nominated by young people.
Song’s announcement of the reform plan is a way to break through the situation in which Lee’s approval rating is locked in the box due to public opinion regarding a regime change. “People’s Power Candidate Yoon Seok-yeol is the dark legacy of the Democratic Party’s government, a reflection of our arrogance and negligence,” Song said.
Lee Seong-taek reporter [email protected]