Rep. Chung Jin-suk entering the Central Committee meeting. Yonhap News

A proposed amendment to the Democratic Party's charter, which Party Leader Chung Jin-suk had pushed for to usher in an era of party member sovereignty with the introduction of a "one person, one vote" system and changes to local election nomination rules, was unexpectedly rejected on the 5th.

Consequently, Chung's leadership, which had pushed for the revision despite some opposition within the party to the one person, one vote system that would effectively abolish the delegate system, has also taken a blow.

On the afternoon of the 5th, two proposed amendments to the party charter – one for the one person, one vote system and another for changes to local election nomination rules – were both rejected in a vote by party central committee members.

In the vote, in which 373 out of a total of 596 central committee members (62.58%) participated, the amendment containing nomination rule changes failed to pass the final hurdle for charter revision with 297 votes in favor (76 against). The amendment for the one person, one vote system failed with 271 votes in favor (102 against).

The nomination rule amendment fell short by 2 votes of the quorum required for approval (a majority of registered members, 299), and the one person, one vote system fell short by 28 votes.

Following the announcement by the Central Committee, Secretary-General Cho Seung-rae stated, "The leadership must respect the choice of the central committee members," but added, "The march toward strengthening party member sovereignty will continue."

He continued, "We made efforts to resolve and adjust various concerns through the discussion process, and it is very regrettable that the revised proposal, which was made as a result, was rejected," adding, "We will carefully examine the intentions of the central committee members and proceed with follow-up measures."

Earlier, at the August 2nd national convention, Chung had pledged to strengthen the authority of eligible party members, including the introduction of the one person, one vote system, and officially announced his intention to pursue it on the 17th of last month.

The one person, one vote system is a proposal to eliminate the weighted voting for delegates in elections such as the party leader election and equalize the value of votes between eligible party members and delegates.

While some supported this as a way to strengthen party democracy, others criticized it, arguing that the voices of voters in less dominant regions, including Yeongnam, would be underrepresented and that the influence of hardline party members would increase.

At the same time, criticism arose within the party that Chung, who receives more support from eligible party members than from organized delegates, was altering the relevant regulations to his advantage for his re-election at the party convention in August of next year.

As controversy continued within the party, the Democratic Party prepared a revised proposal that included supplementary measures such as giving weight to "strategic regions" where the party is weak, and put it to a vote today, but it was rejected.

The amendment to the local election nomination rules, which was also rejected today, proposed allowing preliminary elections through 100% voting by eligible party members, based on a decision by the Supreme Council, if there are five or more preliminary candidates.

Given that even this amendment, which did not face significant criticism within the party, was rejected, some within the party speculate that it was an expression of dissatisfaction with Chung's leadership.

Secretary-General Cho stated, "We are in a situation where we have no choice but to proceed with further discussions regarding local elections," adding, "We will likely need to go through a discussion process such as proceeding according to the current party charter and regulations, or submitting another charter amendment proposal through additional discussions."

Yonhap News