Jang Dong-hyeok, a member of the People Power Party leadership, is walking at the Olympic Park Handball Stadium in Songpa-gu, Seoul, on the 17th. [Photo = Yonhap News]

It is truly ironic. What is the topic that Representative Yoon Sang-hyun, who is under compulsory investigation by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) over allegations of violating the Political Funds Act, and Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, who is one day away from his first-instance ruling in the case regarding the alleged proxy payment of Myung Tae-kyun's public opinion poll expenses, are putting their heads together to discuss?

It is not the livelihoods of the people. It is not a strategy to prevent the runaway behavior of the large ruling party. It is not a countermeasure for the controversy over the infringement of suffrage, either.

It is precisely the "abolition of the party leadership system." Is abolishing the party representative really the most urgent task right now? What is even more serious is the motive behind it. The party representative is directly elected by party members. In contrast, the floor leader is chosen by lawmakers.

In other words, proposing to abolish the party leadership system and transition to a "parliamentary party" is essentially a declaration to strip power from the hands of party members and "monopolize it" among National Assembly members. It means getting rid of the leadership elected by party members and having the lawmakers run the party themselves.

It is not about creating a party subject to the oversight of its members, but rather creating a "crony party" where lawmakers make decisions in closed-door meetings, share power among themselves, and protect one another.

Is this innovation? No. It is a declaration to regress into an "opaque party" that excludes its members. What is even more absurd is that they are packaging this under the plausible name of "public nomination."

Are party members not citizens? The people who pay membership dues, sweat on the streets, and protect the party with their dedication during every election are none other than the members, who are also citizens. Yet, trying to strip party members of their authority using a divisive frame of "party members versus the public" is a sophistry that flatly denies party democracy.

Why are such arguments being made now?

In the past, one could afford to ignore the party members. Nominations were decided by a few politicians, and members were just expected to applaud. But it is different now. A large number of highly engaged political activists have joined as members; they monitor politicians, send critical comments and messages, and refuse to tolerate improper nominations or factional politics.

The more powerful the party members become, the less room there is for backroom politics. The more informed the members become, the more the vested interests of politics are shaken. That is why they are trying to eliminate the authority of the members first.

Representative Yoon Sang-hyun is under compulsory investigation by the CIO for alleged violations of the Political Funds Act. Mayor Oh Se-hoon is awaiting his first-instance ruling regarding the alleged proxy payment of Myung Tae-kyun's public opinion poll expenses.

It is only natural that party members are outraged that politicians who themselves carry such significant judicial risks are, instead of fulfilling their responsibilities to the public and the members, initiating a reorganization of the power structure to curtail the authority of those very members.

Party members are the ones who hold them accountable for their mistakes first. Members are not mere rubber stamps for politicians; they are watchdogs. That is why the members are a nuisance to them. That is why they want to abolish the party representative directly elected by the members. It is why they find Jang Dong-hyeok’s rhetoric about "being reborn as a party-centered organization" so repulsive.

Politicians who fear their own members have no right to speak of innovation. The owners of a political party are not the lawmakers. They are not the mayors. They are not the established political elites.

The owners of a political party are the party members.

The idea of stripping party members of their power to monopolize authority among lawmakers is not innovation; it is a regression that reverses party democracy, and the members will never tolerate such a retreat.

Oh Sang-jong, Representative of the Free Korea Homeland Guard