The People Power Party is moving to prepare for next year's June 3 local elections by activating its general planning task force early. More than seven months remain until the local elections, but the party appears to be speeding up preparations out of a sense of crisis that another defeat could be repeated following the general and presidential elections.
The general planning task force, chaired by five-term lawmaker Na Kyung-won, plans to focus first on outlining the candidate nomination system by the end of the year.
According to Yonhap News on the 12th, the general planning task force said, "We will create an open nomination system that anyone can challenge," and added, "By the end of December at the latest, we will present the broad nomination rules (regulations) and system to ensure fair nominations."
Regarding nomination matters, the task force plans to make primaries the principle to select competitive candidates and minimize strategic nominations.
Even in metropolitan governments such as Seoul and Busan, where the mayor is from the People Power Party, the current stance of the task force is to make candidate primaries the principle. It also plans to discuss adopting an open primary (a full national primary).
If a national primary is held, the "convention effect" can further boost candidate competitiveness in battlegrounds.
It is also expected to focus on lowering entry barriers for competitive political newcomers. Detailed discussions are anticipated on the bonus points given to political newcomers, young people, and women, and the penalty rates given to incumbent lawmakers in the nomination process.
Discussions on the task force's nomination system will be finalized later through talks with the party leadership.
At a meeting on the 10th with the chairpersons of the 17 metropolitan and provincial party chapters nationwide, Chairperson Jang was said to have agreed on the need—raised by some chairpersons—to finalize nomination rules early. The thinking appears to be that once the nomination rules are set, preliminary candidates can prepare for the election quickly, and the party can accelerate talent recruitment.
The People Power Party's election strategy is expected to highlight holding the administration accountable for the worsening livelihoods of the people. A party official said, "To win an election, you have to appeal to the moderates and focus on livelihoods," and added, "Over the one year of President Lee Jae-myung's administration, the country has become more difficult, and the government and ruling party should be held responsible."