Anti-Lee lawmakers go public as defiance grows over DP's 'nomination slaughter'

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party (DP), speaks at a supreme council meeting at the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul, on Wednesday. [NEWS1]

Prominent lawmakers of the majority opposition party are questioning the fairness of the nomination process for the April general election, raising suspicions that they were discriminated against for not being allies of the party's chairman.

Throughout this week, the Democratic Party (DP) has been contacting its lawmakers to tell them their scores in the recent performance evaluation, and many of those ranked in the bottom percentiles are challenging the outcome.

The party is scheduled to complete the notification of its evaluation outcomes, which will have a significant impact on the nomination process for the April 10 general election, to its 163 lawmakers by Friday.

Increasing numbers of lawmakers are protesting their scores, arguing that they were ranked at the bottom because they are not allies of the party's leader, Lee Jae-myung.

Rep. Song Kap-seok on Wednesday said in an interview with MBC radio that he had been informed he received a score in the bottom 10 percent.

"I heard that almost all 31 people [in the bottom 20 percent] are critics of Chairman Lee," Song said. "If this is the situation, we should call it 'nomination slaughter.'"

The DP has decided to penalize strongly incumbent lawmakers who received low scores in the evaluation.

The party will subtract 30 percent of the votes received in the primary for any incumbent lawmaker with a rating in the bottom 10 percent. Incumbent lawmakers with a rating in the bottom 20 percent will have 20 percent of primary votes deducted. The penalties are so substantial they practically eliminate the candidates.

Song is the fourth lawmaker to reveal his evaluation score to challenge the outcome and its subsequent impact on the nomination process.

Rep. Park Yong-jin, a two-term lawmaker, held a press conference on Tuesday and revealed that he was ranked in the bottom 10 percent in the lawmakers' evaluation. "I will seek reevaluation," Park said. "I am making public this humiliation because I want to expose the seriousness of the crisis that the DP is facing now and alert the people who love our party."

Park, 52, is a progressive politician who served as a spokesperson for then-presidential candidate Moon Jae-in during the 2017 party primary, in which Moon defeated Lee.

Park has been a fierce critic of Lee in major political competitions of the party in recent years. He competed against Lee in the presidential primary in 2021 and the chairperson race in 2022.

Another lawmaker, an ally of former President Moon, held a press conference and made public that he was ranked in the bottom 10 percent.

"I exceeded all the quantitative assessment items in the evaluation at the end of last year," Rep. Yoon Young-chan said. "This is unacceptable. I will not give in."

Yoon is a first-term lawmaker known as a member of the pro-Moon faction since he served as Moon's public affairs senior secretary from 2017 to 2019. "The nomination process was not fair nor just," he said.

Earlier this week, Rep. Kim Young-joo, deputy speaker of the National Assembly, abandoned the DP after being notified of the evaluation outcome. The four-term lawmaker said she was included in the bottom 20 percent. Kim served as labor minister in the Moon administration.

"I demand that the party reveal the grounds for evaluating me," Kim said. "I am not pro-Lee nor anti-Lee. But I was labeled anti-Lee, and my score was manipulated to eliminate me."

"Informing that I was ranked at the bottom 20 percent is a definite symbol that the DP has become a personal tool of Chairman Lee," she continued. "I wish the best for the DP, but I will not stay to support Lee."

In the past, few lawmakers voluntarily announced they had received bottom scores because they feared losing supporters in the internal primaries. "Revealing their scores voluntarily means they will publicly fight the party," a second-term lawmaker told the JoongAng Ilbo. "At the same time, it indicates that the nomination system has lost transparency and authority."

Faced with growing defiance, Lee issued a statement through his Facebook account. "It is impossible that personal feelings were factored in the evaluation," he said. "Someone had to receive low scores, and those ranked at the bottom would naturally complain about it. But it is factionalism to label some as pro-Lee while others as anti-Lee based on the evaluation outcome."

The DP had a two-hour-long general assembly of lawmakers on Wednesday to discuss the latest controversy. About 15 lawmakers, considered not allies of Lee, questioned the fairness of the evaluation, those who attended the meeting said.

"I said nominations must not be used to make this party a personal belonging of Chairman Lee," said Rep. Hong Young-pyo. "I said we must make nominations to win the general election. So, I told the party that we must lay bare how the bottom 20 percent of lawmakers were decided and demand accountability from those who are responsible."

Rep. Yoon told reporters he had many things to say and wondered why Lee was absent from the general assembly of lawmakers.

According to Choi Hye-young, the party's spokesperson, the party's floor leader, Rep. Hong Ihk-pyo, promised angry lawmakers an explanation from the nomination committee head and more transparency in opinion polls.

Asked why Lee was absent from the meeting, Choi said she had no answer. Asked if the lawmakers demanded that Lee step down as chairperson, Choi said no such demands were made.

BY SER MYO-JA [enational@joongang.co.kr]