국민의힘, 선거 참패 후폭풍과 '사퇴론'을 둘러싼 당내 격랑 > K-wave Trends

Lawmakers led by Alternatives and Future, a small group within the party, publicly called for the immediate resignation of Representative Jang Dong-hyuk, holding him responsible for the crushing defeat in the June 3 local elections. They pointed out that Representative Jang's leadership had already collapsed, and emphasized that in order for the conservative party to restore the value of responsible politics, the head of the party needed to take responsibility and make a decision to step down. In particular, they expressed strong concerns about Representative Jang's call for nationwide re-elections due to the shortage of ballots that occurred during the election process. Minority lawmakers defined this as a 'conspiracy theory of election fraud' that shakes the foundation of democracy, and strongly criticized the party for undermining conservative values ​​by being buried in groundless claims.

A fierce war of words continued within the leadership over the resignation. Woo Jae-jun, a member of the Youth Supreme Council, suggested that instead of avoiding responsibility for the election defeat, the leadership should resign en masse to pave the way for a new future. He emphasized that there was not enough time to prepare for the next general election and argued that electing new leadership through a national convention was the only way to restore party members' trust. However, party figures such as Cho Kwang-han and Supreme Council Member Kim Min-soo dismissed Supreme Council Member Woo's proposal as 'immature' and objected, saying it was politically immature to raise such an issue in public rather than in a private meeting. The emotional battle between the two sides clearly showed how deep the factional conflict within the party was.

With independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon joining in, pressure on Representative Jang Dong-hyuk to resign is intensifying. One lawmaker singled out Representative Jang as an "obstacle to conservative reconstruction," and harshly criticized him for relying on conspiracy theories about election fraud to prolong his life, saying that he does not embody the anger of young people and the public at all. He mentioned a case where he immediately resigned after losing an election in the past, and pointed out that it is the duty of conservative politics to know when to step down. In response, Representative Jang counters that resolving the ballot paper shortage is the most urgent task and that all energy should now be devoted to correcting the National Election Commission's mistakes rather than causing strife within the party. He is directly refuting calls for his resignation with the desperate logic that if this situation is not resolved, there is no hope for the general election.

Meanwhile, in order to resolve divisions within the party and strengthen its fighting power, the new floor leader, Jeong Jeong-sik, began to reorganize the party's organization by appointing Rep. Kim Seung-soo as senior vice-president of the party. Floor leader Chung emphasized the unity of the People Power Party regardless of faction, and showed his determination to thoroughly investigate the truth about the ballot paper shortage through a national investigation led by the People Power Party, chaired by the opposition party. In fact, the ruling and opposition parties reported the request for a government investigation to the plenary session and entered the phase of full-scale negotiations. However, the People Power Party is strongly demanding the introduction of a special prosecutor, and the Democratic Party is fighting back to stop baseless claims of election fraud, so difficulties are expected in the future process of negotiating the composition of the original committee and uncovering the truth.