Jang Dong-hyeok: 'Election Petitions Are Just the Beginning... We Must Fight for Nationwide Rerun Elections'

People Power Party (PPP) leader Jang Dong-hyeok said, "Election petitions are just the beginning," adding, "While we should contest what we can through petitions, we must fight with the goal of holding nationwide rerun elections."

Jang made the remarks this morning (Tuesday, June 16) during an appearance on Munhwa Ilbo's YouTube channel "Heo Min's News Show," stating, "Since a situation has occurred where the voter registry for Chungcheongbuk-do Province went missing, we plan to additionally file a petition for Chungcheongbuk-do today."

The PPP leadership announced on Monday (June 15) that it would file election petitions regarding "polling stations with ballot paper shortages" in six regions—including Seoul, Gyeonggi, Incheon, Ulsan, Busan, and Gwangju/South Jeolla—where ballot shortages occurred during the June 3 local elections, requesting a review to determine whether the shortages affected the election results.

With the addition of Chungcheongbuk-do, the number of regions increases to seven.

Under the Public Official Election Act, the deadline for filing election petitions is within 14 days of the election day, which is tomorrow (June 17).

"By tomorrow (June 17), we will identify all additional regions where issues occurred and secure as many petition opportunities nationwide as possible," Jang emphasized. "We will fight alongside the public for nationwide rerun elections."

Addressing criticism that he is making unilateral claims without gathering party consensus, Jang partially acknowledged the concerns, saying, "Some argue, 'We won the Seoul mayoral race, so why should we file a petition?'" However, he countered, "When it comes to the public's right to vote and defending democracy, we should not calculate political advantages or disadvantages."

He also dismissed criticism that the decision to file petitions was made without a general meeting of lawmakers, drawing a line by saying, "We listened to various opinions sufficiently through discussions within the Supreme Council."

Regarding criticism that his push for rerun elections is an attempt to "blemish" Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, Jang refuted it, calling the claim "highly regrettable."

He continued, "Some of the young lawmakers do not raise their voices when fighting against the Democratic Party, but always speak out like this whenever internal party issues arise," adding, "Representative Kim Yong-tae should go to Olympic Park and talk to the young people there."

When asked if he had discussed the rerun election issue with Mayor Oh, he replied, "I have not discussed it directly with him."

Jang clearly rejected demands for his resignation from the non-mainstream, anti-Jang faction, which includes the pro-Han (pro-Han Dong-hoon) faction and young reformists. "The same people demand the party leader's resignation like a monthly event. It's almost like a vending machine," he said.

Regarding the June 3 local elections, Jang expressed confidence, saying, "While we cannot evaluate it as a great success, there could also be an assessment that we fought well enough to put up a good fight given the extremely difficult circumstances."

He argued, "If we force the leadership to resign and transition to an emergency leadership committee, we will be consumed by that process for a significant period, resulting in a vacuum where we cannot do anything about the ballot paper shortage crisis until the end of the year."

When asked if he was willing to resolve the controversy through a party-wide confidence vote, he remarked, "Nothing is appropriate under the current circumstances. If we hold a party-wide vote, our party will be consumed by that issue until it is over."

Jang dismissed questions about the reinstatement of independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon, saying, "At this stage, regardless of any conditions, discussing the issue of reinstatement itself is inappropriate."

He went on to point out, "While serving as party leader, I personally took disciplinary action regarding the 'Dang-ge' (party member online bulletin board) issue," adding, "He [Han] continues to take the stance that the bulletin board issue is not really a big deal, but no legal conclusion has been reached on this. For some unknown reason, the investigation has not even been properly conducted."

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.