Lee Gi-in, the head of the Reform Party's emergency committee, announced that the party will exclude proportional representation nominations from its leadership in the upcoming general election. He also urged Cheon Hwa-ram, the party's floor leader, and Lee Joo-young, a lawmaker, to run in the Gyeonggi Southern region as a strategic base for the party.
Lee made this announcement on September 17 during a press conference at the National Assembly. The key point of his reform plan is to limit proportional representation nominations for past leadership, key party officials, and candidates from the last election. As a result, those who held leadership positions or were nominated as proportional candidates in the last election must run in district elections to receive nominations from the Reform Party in the next election.
"I will lead by example. I will not run as a proportional candidate for the Reform Party," Lee stated, adding that he intends to run in a district election to earn the public's support under the party's name.
Regarding the party's election strategy, which reportedly faced internal disagreements, Lee proposed a 'Gyeonggi Southern strategic base' similar to the plan of former leader Lee Jun-seok. To implement this, he plans to establish a 'Gyeonggi Southern Special Committee' focusing on cities such as Hwaseong, Suwon, Yongin, Seongnam, Pyeongtaek, and Osan.
While presenting this strategic plan, Lee publicly called on Cheon and Lee to run in the Gyeonggi Southern region. He also indicated that he would reject Cheon's application for the Suncheon organizational committee chair position. If the two lawmakers do not accept his request, he hinted at the possibility of exercising his authority as the emergency committee chair. Lee plans to announce further specific measures after completing the committee's formation.
These announcements were made without prior discussions with former leader Lee Jun-seok or Cheon Hwa-ram. Lee emphasized, "Consulting or reporting to the former leader would only repeat the same mistakes," and expressed confidence that Cheon would agree with the direction of the reforms.
Meanwhile, there has been some backlash within the Reform Party regarding the appropriateness of Lee's appointment and the reform leadership. Former Secretary General Kim Cheol-keun criticized Cheon for the appointment of the emergency committee chair without discussion with the former leader. Concerns have also been raised about whether it is appropriate for the leadership to lead reforms ahead of the June 3 local elections.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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