Han Dong-hoon calls for legalizing bottom-up nominations for parties receiving government subsidies
Independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon argued Monday at a political party reform forum held at the National Assembly Members' Office Building in Seoul that parties receiving government subsidies should be legally required to adopt "bottom-up nominations" that reflect the opinions of party members and citizens when selecting candidates. The forum, "Political Party Reform: What and How," was co-hosted in the morning by the Korean Party Studies Association and People Power Party lawmakers Kim Ki-hyun and Yoon Sang-hyun, with about 10 lawmakers from the pro-Han faction attending in a show of strength.
Kim Ki-hyun, a co-host of the forum, pointed to the problem of parties becoming like fandoms. "There is indeed a fear that as parties lean toward fandoms, they are becoming too disconnected from the people," he said, adding, "We face the task of designing institutions so that party sentiment and public opinion move in the same direction. The core task, above all, is nomination reform."
Lawmaker Yoon Sang-hyun also said, "Nominations are naturally not the exclusive property of any particular individual," and "We must institutionalize substantive participation by party members, as well as a public nomination system in which all citizens can take part."
Yoon also took a position on recent calls for a "conservative grand coalition." "The 'Oh-Dong-Seok' (Oh Se-hoon, Han Dong-hoon, Lee Jun-seok) alliance is a bit lacking; we need an 'Oh-Dong-Seok-Jang' alliance (including party leader Jang Dong-hyuk). Only by building a big tent for conservatives can we win," he said.
Six-term veteran lawmaker Chu Ho-young cited his own experience as an example. Chu, who ranked first and second in opinion polls yet was cut off from nomination in the party primary for Daegu mayor ahead of the June 3 local elections, noted, "The party leader or president tried to install their own people and ruined the entire election." "When someone becomes party leader, loyalists emerge. And those loyalists are mostly somewhat lacking," he said. "Even if I became party leader, I would probably nominate the people who hover around me. This needs to change."
