"Confidence in Jang Should Be Decided by All-Member Vote... Silence of Senior Lawmakers Is Complicity"

Some responsible members of the People Power Party have demanded that a vote of all party members be held to decide whether Jang Donghyeok should remain as party leader. They have called on senior lawmakers, who have not taken an active stance, stating, "Remaining silent in the face of a party crisis is not neutrality but complicity," and urged them to participate.

Yonhap News Agency

Responsible party members, including Park In-kyu, who oppose the current leadership, held a press conference in front of the main gate of the National Assembly this afternoon. They called on senior lawmakers to "formally accept a petition signed by over 27,000 party members and citizens before the first anniversary of Representative Jang's inauguration," and asked that "the party's collective will be gathered to make an all-member vote possible."

Previously, Park and other members had organized a signature campaign among responsible party members and ordinary citizens calling for Representative Jang's resignation. According to the organizers, a total of 27,415 people participated in this campaign. The organizers delivered this petition to 33 lawmakers serving three or more terms, but it is reported that most did not respond, except for a few.

Park stated, "Right now, the People Power Party stands at a crossroads: will it become Jang Donghyeok's personal party or return to being a winning party; will it remain as a 'Yoon Again' party or break free from Yoon Suk Yeol's legacy and move forward? Next year is too late. Let us ask the party members directly about whether Representative Jang should remain in office."

However, many believe the possibility of actually holding an all-member vote is low. According to People Power Party regulations, a recall vote of the party leader requires signatures from at least 20 percent of all responsible members. On August 5, Jang also addressed a related inquiry, saying, "With over 1 million responsible party members in the People Power Party, I question whether the party leader must respond to every issue individually."

The atmosphere within the party is still one of watching and waiting. Park said, "According to party regulations, recalling the party leader requires signatures from 20 percent of all responsible members. If there are about 1 million members, that's 200,000 people—more than the number of votes Representative Jang received at the last party convention," adding, "Senior lawmakers need to consider whether it should come to this for ordinary members to take action, or whether they should provide an opportunity as soon as possible to let party members decide on the leadership's confidence vote."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.