People Power Party lawmaker Yoon Sang-hyun noted on the 9th that, among 64 members of his party, all except him and one other member agreed to delegate the issue of replacing the presidential candidate to the emergency response committee.
Lawyer Yoon said in a meeting with reporters after the late-night parliamentary meeting that day, "I clearly expressed my opposition to granting the authority to replace the candidate to the emergency response committee."
He reported, "Today, 64 lawmakers voted. The only ones opposing were me and exactly 2 others. The lawmakers overwhelmingly agreed to transfer the authority to replace the candidate to the emergency response committee."
Yoon stated, "Many lawmakers are really confused and critical about Candidate Kim's broken promises. However, that's a political and ethical issue, not a legal one."
He continued, "Acting Prime Minister Han Duck-soo is an independent candidate outside. If we proceed with the process like this, what will happen to the other candidates dropped in this primary? Is this the unification we wanted?" He added, "Will Candidate Kim Moon-soo, who is being replaced, remain silent? There will be fierce resistance. Our party will fall into endless legal battles, ultimately jeopardizing our party's existence."
He remarked, "Is this the unification we wanted? Is there emotion and synergy in the unification? Is it a winning unification? This is a losing unification," and stated, "It's very regrettable and devastating."
Earlier, the People Power Party held a late-night parliamentary meeting to discuss the unification issue between party presidential candidate Kim Moon-soo and independent preliminary candidate Han Duck-soo. After about two hours of gathering opinions from 8 p.m., the conclusion was reached to delegate the unification issue to the leadership.
Floor spokesperson Seo Ji-young met with reporters and noted, "Most lawmakers urged for unification, and many lawmakers primarily expressed a desire to delegate to the leadership." However, regarding the candidate replacement, she said, "Negotiations (between candidates) are ongoing, so I will refrain from further comments."