U.S.-Style Primary Is Mulled

Representative Cho Se-hyung of the ruling Millennium Democratic Party said Thursday that the party is studying adopting U.S.-style primaries to select its presidential nominee for the December 2002 presidential election.

"We are considering holding primaries for the first time in the nation's history," Mr. Cho, who heads the party's special committee on reform, said at a press conference. "We will decide on it after extensive discussion on how to best reflect public opinion."

The ruling party is debating holding a primary in which voters registered with the party in each region would vote on potential presidential candidates, or a caucus in which official party members from each region would vote on the candidates.

To hold either a primary or a caucus a number of laws governing political parties and campaigning practices would have to be changed. Under the current law regarding political campaigns, a primary or caucus would be considered illegal early electioneering.

Party reformers such as Representative Kim Keun-tae and Representative Chung Dong-young are in favor of changing the related laws. "Let us move toward giving ordinary citizens a chance to join a political party" and participate fully in the political process, the two said in a statement.

The party, which is without a true leader in the wake of President Kim Dae-jung's Nov. 8 resignation, is mulling ways to select its new leadership and nominate its presidential candidate.

The idea to initiate a U.S.-style primary is a by-product of the party's recent discussions on increasing the current 10,000 delegates to the party's national convention.

At a recent party workshop several participants called for doubling or tripling the number of delegates who would nominate a candidate.

"The proposal to hold a primary came about because party members recognize that realistically increasing the number of the delegates will serve a limited purpose," said Representative Kim Min-seok, who is acting as a secretary for the reform committee.

by Lee Yang-soo