On the 9th, senior lawmakers of the People Power Party held a heated debate over issues including the future of Kim Yong-tae, the chairperson of the emergency response committee, and the reorganization of the leadership structure, but they could not narrow their differences.
Senior lawmakers of the People Power Party who have served four terms or more gathered at the National Assembly from 11 a.m. for about an hour to discuss renewal plans following the election defeat.
It is reported that opinions were sharply divided over the issue of Chairperson Kim's future during the meeting held ahead of the general assembly of lawmakers.
Six-term lawmaker Jo Kyung-tae met with reporters after the meeting and said, "There was an opinion to quickly dismiss the chairperson," adding, "I suggested that even if the chairperson's term is extended a bit, we should empower him to complete the reform proposals."
However, regarding the timing for the national convention to elect the next party leader, he added, "The regular National Assembly opens in September," and said, "I think it is reasonable for the new leadership to be in place by August."
It is also reported that opinions were divided regarding the investigation into the 'forced unification of candidates' that occurred during the last presidential election.
Lawmaker Jo stated, "My position is that we must hold those responsible for the attempted candidate swap during the last election accountable through a party audit," adding, "Some have said that it is unnecessary to create issues among ourselves. (However) this has a strong nature of an internal coup that undermines intra-party democracy, so I believe we must thoroughly investigate this matter."
On the other hand, another senior lawmaker reportedly criticized, "Initially, Chairperson Kim Yong-tae and the party leadership had agreed to resign altogether, but the chairperson suddenly changed his mind."
Discontent regarding the five major reform proposals announced by Chairperson Kim the previous day (including ▲holding the national convention in September ▲invalidating the party's position against the impeachment of the president ▲investigating the unjust replacement of presidential candidates ▲100% grassroots nomination) was also raised.
After the meeting, lawmaker Yoon Sang-hyun told reporters, "Our stance on the 12·3 emergency martial law is the same. However, we have significantly different views on the invalidation of the party's position against impeachment," stating, "Opposing impeachment is not to support former President Yoon Seok-youl personally but to protect the impeachment of the liberal democratic and law-based system," and added, "The gap in recognition on this matter is too large."
Earlier, during the election campaign, lawmaker Yoon had publicly opposed the invalidation of the party's position against impeachment, stating, "We should not go beyond the line of our party's roots and identity." Conversely, the reform faction centered around Han Dong-hoon believes that since the Constitutional Court ruled that the 12·3 emergency martial law actions were unconstitutional, the party's position against impeachment must be invalidated to clearly cross 'the river of impeachment.'