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๐Ÿ‡ฐ๐Ÿ‡ท South Korea /Elections & Politics

Ruling party lawmaker: Election results not a defeat, leader shouldn't resign

From Hankyoreh · () Korean

Translated from Korean, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • A ruling party lawmaker stated that the recent election results were not a defeat and that the party leader has no reason to resign.
  • She criticized the shortage of ballot papers, comparing it to a pizza with a worm, suggesting a systemic issue rather than isolated incidents.
  • The lawmaker also questioned a Constitutional Court decision that prevented an audit of the election commission, implying it foreshadowed the ballot paper issue.

Lee Jin-sook, a candidate for the ruling People Power Party in a by-election, has asserted that the recent local elections were not a defeat for the party, despite expectations of a favorable environment for the ruling camp. She argued that the party "put up a good fight" and that party leader Jang Dong-hyuk has "no reason to resign."

The elections were in a situation favorable to the ruling party, and the People Power Party put up a good fight, but we cannot accept this as a defeat or a crushing defeat. Representative Jang has no reason to resign.

โ€” Lee Jin-sookCommenting on the recent election results and the party leader's position.

"I cannot understand why they are asking Representative Jang to step down when he was supposed to fight against the Lee Jae-myung administration," Lee stated on YTN radio. She expressed bewilderment at the internal calls for Jang's resignation, emphasizing that the focus should be on confronting the opposition.

I cannot understand why they are asking Representative Jang to step down when he was supposed to fight against the Lee Jae-myung administration.

โ€” Lee Jin-sookExpressing confusion over calls for the party leader's resignation.

Lee drew a strong parallel between the ballot paper shortage and a "pizza with a worm in it." She described the incident as an "invasion of suffrage and democracy." "If a pizza is served in 8 or 6 slices, and one slice has a worm, what do you do if the pizza shop owner offers to replace only that one slice?" she asked. Lee contended that this situation indicates a fundamental problem with the entire pizza, or in this case, all pizzas baked that day, suggesting a broader issue with the election process.

If a pizza is served in 8 or 6 slices, and one slice has a worm, what do you do if the pizza shop owner offers to replace only that one slice? That one slice is not the only problem; the entire round pizza has issues, and all the pizzas baked that day have problems.

โ€” Lee Jin-sookComparing the ballot paper shortage to a contaminated pizza to illustrate a systemic problem.

Furthermore, Lee linked the ballot paper issue to a Constitutional Court decision made in February. The court ruled that the Board of Audit and Inspection could not conduct an audit of the Central Election Management Commission, citing the commission's constitutional independence. Lee suggested that this decision, which prevented oversight, may have foreshadowed the problems that arose with the ballot papers.

Wasn't this situation (the ballot paper shortage) predictable when the Constitutional Court decided that the Board of Audit and Inspection could not conduct an audit of the election management committee?

โ€” Lee Jin-sookLinking the ballot paper issue to a previous Constitutional Court ruling.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Hankyoreh in Korean. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.