Ruling and opposition parties begin quiet preparations for early presidential election

The opposition Minjoo Party and the ruling People Power Party have begun preparing behind the scenes for a potentially early presidential election. Both parties are currently refraining from talking publicly about the election. However, as the primaries and the presidential election must be held within 60 days once the Constitutional Court upholds the impeachment motion against President Yoon, the political community believes the timeline may be tight.

According to several internal sources on February 18, the Minjoo Party is reportedly strongly considering adopting electoral college voting in four major regions nationwide (Seoul, Chungcheong, the Southwestern, and the Southeastern), using its primaries model held in the early presidential election back in 2017. The opposition party plans to hold primaries with an electoral college composed of both party-affiliated voters and the general public. Some potential party candidates from the non-Myung section (“Myung” referring to party representative Jae-myung Lee) reportedly demanded a fully open public primary.

Lee will likely resign as party leader and participate in the primary race as soon as the Constitutional Court upholds the impeachment motion. A senior party official noted that the party plans to apply the same rules of the early presidential election last time while boosting the primary competition and interest by accommodating requests from the challengers as much as possible.

On February 17, some of the ruling party members tasked to work in the Presidential Office reportedly returned to the party office. This has led to speculation in political circles that the ruling party is getting ready for the early presidential election. One ruling party official stated that the party officials would return to the party office in an orderly manner once the appointing authority was dismissed, and the political landscape would shift into election campaign mode. However, the ruling party denied the claim made by Minjoo party lawmaker Sun-won Park, who asserted that about half of the 20 officials dispatched to the presidential office had returned. They explained that only two had returned to the Presidential Office as of February 17, and those two planned since last November were delayed due to the emergency martial law situation. They further argued that Park may have intended to shake People Power's staunch support base by insinuating that the ruling party is preparing for the early presidential election.


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