[Editorial] The PPP must wake up

In Wednesday’s nationwide by-elections, the first election held after Yoon Suk Yeol became president last year, his People Power Party (PPP) suffered a series of defeats, including in a district in Jeonju, North Jeolla for a legislative seat and in Ulsan city, South Gyeongsang to elect its new education superintendent. In the by-elections, a barometer of the parliamentary elections next year, voters showed a yellow card to the governing party after watching its members endlessly wage a loyalty contest for the president.

The by-elections are the first ones held after Rep. Kim Gi-hyeon became head of the PPP last month. But a Democratic Party (DP) candidate was elected as a councilman in the district of Ulsan that Kim represents. In an election for education superintendent of the city too, a liberal candidate defeated a single candidate representing the conservative front — both painful losses for the PPP leader. That’s not all. In a district in Jeonju, a PPP candidate nearly showed the lowest voter turnout.

The alarming results reflect a critical lack of leadership in the PPP just a month after Kim’s election as new party head. PPP leaders kept mum after senior members repeatedly made slips of the tongue — as seen by Kim Jae-won’s remarks that the spirit of the May 18, 1980 Democracy Movement in Gwangju cannot be reflected in our Constitution and that the April 3, 1948 uprising and massacre in Jeju must not be on par with other national anniversaries. Instead, the PPP members were bent on attacking the DP. Over the government’s controversial policies such as a plan to change the 52-hour workweek to a 69-hour workweek, the PPP was only busy defending the president without presenting any alternatives. The PPP’s reluctance to embrace the South and North Jeolla region also contributed to its crushing defeat in the by-elections.

The PPP must be born again. Instead of watching the lips of the president, it must change its policy direction to meet the demands of the times and restore cooperative politics with the DP. The party must also hug its young members to help refresh the old image of the conservative party. Otherwise, it will be punished in the next parliamentary elections more harshly than in the by-elections on Wednesday.

The DP must not be elated by the recent victory. In a district in Jeonju, a Progressive Party candidate comfortably defeated independent candidates who came from the DP. The supermajority party holding 169 seats in the 300-member legislature must know it represents a public warning on its overbearing legislation and uninterrupted arrogance as clearly seen in the past.