The Democratic Party of Korea's "one person, one vote" amendment to its party constitution and rules, pushed by party leader Jung Chung-rae, was voted down at the Central Committee on the 5th. Jung's leadership inevitably took a hit.
The Democratic Party held a Central Committee meeting that day and voted on amendments to the party constitution and rules centered on introducing the "one person, one vote" system. It had been expected to pass the committee without difficulty, but the vote failed, with 277 in favor (72.65%) and 102 against (27.35%) out of 596 Central Committee members.
Cho Seung-rae, the Democratic Party's secretary-general, said, "The Central Committee's threshold for approval is a majority of all members," and explained, "Although more than 70% of participants voted in favor, it failed because it did not secure a majority of all members."
The one person, one vote system treats the ballots of delegates and dues-paying party members equally, instead of the existing method that counted a delegate's single vote as about 20 times that of a dues-paying member. The party rules stipulate it as "less than 20 to 1," and it was 17 to 1 at the last party convention.
Jung emphasized "party member sovereignty" and led the push to introduce the "one person, one vote" system. In a partywide vote held Nov. 19–20, the approval rate came in at 86.81%. Jung pressed ahead with the amendment process, saying, "We cannot go against the will of party members, which is close to 90%."
But criticism also arose within the ruling party over the partywide turnout being just 16.81%. Not only Supreme Council members Han Jun-ho and Lee Un-ju but also lawmakers Kang Deuk-gu and Yoon Jong-goon voiced public opposition. The largest pro-Myeong in- and outside-parliament group, "The Democratic Innovation Council," also issued a statement criticizing it.
Afterward, the Democratic Party partially accepted the views of opposing lawmakers and moved to introduce the "one person, one vote" system, but it failed to clear the Central Committee vote that day. The vote appears to have been overturned by backlash within the pro-Myeong group's anti–Jung Chung-rae camp, which suspected that Jung sought to increase the weight of dues-paying members' votes with an eye to extending his term as party leader next year.
An amendment to the party constitution for selecting candidates for next year's local elections was also voted down. It included measures to change the method of ranking candidates for basic and metropolitan proportional representation to a "100% dues-paying party member vote," and to hold a preliminary primary by a 100% dues-paying member vote if there are four or more contenders for local election nominations. On this item, 373 Central Committee members took part in the vote, and 297 voted in favor.
Cho said, "We need to take necessary steps through various follow-up discussions," adding, "It seems we should proceed under the current party constitution and rules, or pursue additional discussions to submit another amendment to the party constitution and rules."
He said, "We should respect the Central Committee members' choice. However, the march toward strengthening party member sovereignty will continue," adding, "It is very regrettable that it was voted down even though we prepared a revised plan and proceeded."