On the 21st, People Power Party lawmaker Jang Dong-hyuk officially announced his candidacy for the party leader election at the 8·22 National Convention.
Lawmaker Jang said on Facebook that "the party is entirely falling into an extreme right frame due to the incessant internal critics" and added, "I will surely become the party leader and hold accountable those who have insulted the party and its members."
He mentioned, "I can no longer watch as some outdated media and the internal critics who supported impeachment label countless citizens, the People Power Party, and me as extreme rightists who opposed impeachment."
He emphasized, "This National Convention has become a battle between the forces defending liberal democracy and those opposing it to shatter the extreme right frame," adding, "I will boldly step forward in this fight."
Lawmaker Jang, who was appointed as the party's secretary general unusually as a first-term member under former party leader Han Dong-hoon and was elected as a member of the Supreme Council, was classified as part of the pro-Han faction; however, he severed ties with the pro-Han faction during the impeachment process. He later led the opposition to the impeachment of former President Yoon Suk-yeol and was included in the first personnel overhaul target of Innovation Committee Chairperson Yoon Hee-sook.
The National Convention to elect the next leader of the People Power Party will be held on the 22nd of next month at Osco in Cheongju, Chungbuk. It will be conducted through a method combining 80% party member votes and 20% public opinion polls.
The competition for the leadership of the People Power Party, which is facing a crisis due to impeachment and a presidential election defeat, is intensifying. Kim Moon-soo, former Minister of Employment and Labor and the presidential candidate for the People Power Party in the last election, announced his candidacy the day before, and six-term lawmaker Jo Kyung-tae is expected to declare his candidacy that day as well. Lawmaker Ahn Cheol-soo, former presidential office future strategy planning officer Jang Sung-min, and former lawmaker Yang Hyang-ja have also publicly expressed their intention to run for party leader.