PPP CONCLUDES CANDIDATE REGISTRATION

[Anchor Lead]

The main opposition People Power Party has concluded two days of candidate registration for its presidential hopefuls and thereby started the primary process. But turmoil continues as candidates clash over primary rules, with the party’s election chief also being targeted.

[Pkg]

​15 contenders have registered for the PPP presidential primary. From the very beginning, the biggest headache is how to conduct public opinion polls that will be reflected in narrowing down the field. Earlier, the party’s primary preparatory committee said that poll results from members of the public who are not PPP supporters will also count. But the party’s election management chief Chung Hong-won said nothing has been decided on the issue. Former lawmaker Yoo Seong-min was the first to remark on a possible connection between Chung and former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl’s camp, even citing the need for Chung to resign.

[Soundbite] Yoo Seong-min(PPP primary candidate) : "If unfair primary rules that solely benefit Yoon Seok-youl disrupts the race and leads to a failed transfer of power, Chung Hong-won is fully responsible for that outcome."

Hong Joon-pyo also chimed in, posting four social media messages on Tuesday alone. He does not understand the sudden attempts to change the primary rules.

[Soundbite] Hong Joon-pyo(PPP primary candidate(YTN’s “The News”)) : "Athletes are running on the track and a referee suddenly barges in to change the rules. This is nonsense."

Former Board of Audit and Inspection chair Choi Jae-hyeong again emphasized it’s necessary to prevent so-called strategic reverse responses from Democratic Party supporters aimed at sabotaging the PPP primary. Former prosecution chief Yoon Seok-youl who’s been campaigning in the Chungcheongdo provinces for the second day said he will follow the decision by party leadership, which is seen as throwing support behind the election committee chair.

[Soundbite] Yoon Seok-youl(PPP primary candidate) : "I have faith that organizers will be fair and reasonable and I intend to follow their decision."

As the polling issue directly affects the interest of each candidate, confrontation is not expected to die down easily. The election committee will decide in the coming days whether to introduce rules to prevent reverse selection by non-PPP supporters.