단상斷想

The People Power Party displayed an unprecedented behavior of completely disregarding democratic procedures ahead of the presidential election. The party leadership unilaterally deprived Kim Moon-soo, who was elected through an official primary, of his candidacy. This was not a simple strategic misjudgment, but a serious incident that threw away even the minimum democratic principles that a political party should uphold. In addition, after the 21st general election in 2020, some members of the People Power Party raised allegations of election fraud and claimed the election was invalid. These claims were controversial as they could be interpreted as denying the democratic basic order, and some members of the People Power Party strongly criticized constitutional institutions such as the Constitutional Court or the National Election Commission, making statements that undermined their authority. This was discussed as a problem because it could infringe on the independence and authority of constitutional institutions.

Under the guise of 'conservative unification,' the party leadership replaced candidate Kim Moon-soo and pushed former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo as the presidential candidate. In this process, People Power Party leaders and senior lawmakers, including Kwon Young-se and Kwon Seong-dong, did not care about procedural legitimacy. Their real purpose was clear. It was an attempt to install Han Duck-soo as Yoon Seok-yeol's proxy. The Constitution of the Republic of Korea and Article 2 of the Political Parties Act clearly stipulate that political parties must comply with the democratic basic order. However, the People Power Party thoroughly disregarded democratic procedures in the process of replacing presidential candidates this time, undermining constitutional values. Article 44 of the Political Parties Act stipulates that 'a political party may be dissolved by a decision of the Constitutional Court if it violates the democratic basic order.' The People Power Party's invalidation of the primary results and replacement of candidates under the pretext of conservative unification is a clear act of destroying the democratic basic order and is a direct basis for the dissolution of the party. According to the People Power Party's party constitution and regulations, the presidential candidate should be elected through an intra-party primary. Invalidating the primary results arbitrarily or replacing candidates can be interpreted as a violation of democratic procedures. If the method of selecting candidates specified in the party regulations clearly stipulates democratic procedures, but the candidates were replaced ignoring this, it is a violation of internal regulations.

In the past, the Constitutional Court ruled in the decision to dissolve the Unified Progressive Party that "a political party that violates the democratic basic order and pursues the purpose of harming the existence and safety of the state can be dissolved." The People Power Party is seriously undermining the democratic basic order by ignoring democratic procedures, defending acts of insurrection, and continuing to attempt to justify them.

From the time of his candidacy, Han Duck-soo defended insurrection mastermind Yoon Seok-yeol, saying, "He is not a wrong person," and by mentioning shortening the presidential term and constitutional amendment, he did not hide that his role was to prevent the liquidation of insurrection forces. However, this attempt was thwarted by the votes of party members. People Power Party Senior Spokesperson Shin Dong-wook had no choice but to admit that "the questionnaire regarding the re-election of candidates was rejected by a narrow margin." As the Han Duck-soo card was thwarted by the party member vote, Yoon Seok-yeol himself began to exert political influence. He defined this presidential election as a frame of "liberal democracy versus totalitarianism" and downplayed the Constitutional Court's impeachment decision as a mere "political vortex." This was not only an insult to the Constitutional Court's ruling, but also an act of trampling on the people's command to take to the streets.

As soon as Yoon Suk-yeol's message was released, the situation changed rapidly. Kim Moon-soo, who had previously criticized Han Duck-soo for 'not being qualified to be president,' suddenly changed his attitude and said, 'Please take on the role of election campaign chairman,' and 'Now I will serve you as my teacher.' This is an event that clearly shows that Yoon Suk-yeol still wields tremendous influence within the People Power Party.

Yoon Suk-yeol continues to portray himself as a political victim, disguising emergency martial law and treason crimes that risked the lives of the people as legitimate attempts to govern. Despite the revelation of unmanned aerial vehicles and orders to strike the origin to induce war, operations to 'collect' opposing forces, and the operation of black agents to attempt martial law again, he claims this is a 'struggle for freedom.'

The conservative camp has experienced several crises in the past. From the Grand National Party's presidential candidate primary fiasco in 2007, the Saenuri Party's split during Park Geun-hye's impeachment in 2016, to the creation of the Future United Party in 2020, they have survived each crisis by simply changing their name. However, the current People Power Party faces a serious crisis where the very meaning of the party's existence is questioned, not just a simple change of signboard. The People Power Party is being criticized as a 'sedition headquarters,' and has already been on the path to self-destruction since plotting sedition on December 3rd of last year. In the democratic republic of Korea, there is no place for a seditious force or a seditious party that denies democracy and constitutional order.

Therefore, re-arresting Yoon Seok-yeol and completely liquidating the seditious forces is the only way to restore the constitutional order of the Republic of Korea. The National Assembly must enact a 'Special Act on the Liquidation of Seditious Forces' and establish a 'Special Committee for the Investigation of Sedition Crimes and Liquidation of Seditious Forces' to thoroughly investigate and punish sedition criminals. The impeachment of Yoon Seok-yeol is not the end but the beginning. Attempts to revive the seditious forces are still ongoing, and the dissolution of the People Power Party is inevitable to completely eradicate them. This has the justification for dissolution due to violation of the Political Parties Act and is an inevitable measure to protect the constitutional order.

The People Power Party, disband the unconstitutional party!