Party Vote, Repeated Confirmation of Support and Opposition for Transitioning from Han Deok-soo
The People Power Party's automatic response (ARS) vote conducted on the 10th, targeting party members for the change of the presidential candidate, resulted in the rejection of the proposal to replace it with former Prime Minister Han Deok-soo.
The sudden attempt for a change, pushed by the leadership in just one day, ultimately failed to gain the consent of the party members.
According to party officials, it was reported that the voting on that day confirmed the members' stance on candidate replacement no less than three times.
First, the question "Do you support changing to candidate Han Deok-soo?" was presented, followed by a similar question phrased as "What do you think about changing the designation to candidate Han Deok-soo?" Finally, the confirmation process proceeded with the question, "You have just expressed your opinion on the designation. Is that correct?"
Despite initial suitability surveys, the voting turnout fell short of half.
The party-wide vote took place from 10 AM to 9 PM on the 10th. Shin Dong-wook, the chief spokesperson for the People Power Party, stated, "The candidate re-selection process was rejected by a narrow margin." Although specific numbers were not disclosed, the proposal to replace failed to exceed a majority of the responses, leading to its automatic dismissal.
In a preceding suitability survey conducted over two days from the 8th to the 9th, former Prime Minister Han was reported to have an advantage over candidate Kim Moon-soo. However, the party members holding the final decision powers have effectively drawn a line against the replacement.
The leadership of the People Power Party had pushed for former Prime Minister Han’s admission and solo candidate registration based on the results of the two-day opinion poll, but the opposition prevailing in the party vote effectively derailed the leadership's replacement plan.
Mixed Results with Unification Opinion Polls Reflecting Party Member Discontent
There are analyses suggesting that the leadership interpreted the opinions of party members too optimistically. According to an internal survey conducted by the People Power Party on the 7th, the response rate regarding the necessity of unification among party members reached only 33.8%, with 82.82% of this group in favor. However, the approval rate against the total responses was merely around 27.9%, indicating that the actual voting sentiment fell significantly short of the leadership's expectations.
In particular, there were complaints among some party members regarding the method of repeatedly presenting former Prime Minister Han as a "replacement candidate" in the vote.
As a result of this vote, candidate Kim Moon-soo legally regained his candidacy status, and the People Power Party's presidential race is set to undergo a reorganization from scratch.
Image source: Former Prime Minister Han Deok-soo / News1, News1
