TENSION WITHIN PPP RISES

[Anchor Lead]

The governing People Power Party has been embroiled in controversy ever since the current administration was launched. Now that the party leaders have decided to go into emergency mode, a meeting of central and local chapter leaders will be held tomorrow. But tension in the party is on the rise as PPP leader Lee Jun-seok, currently suspended of his party membership over the allegation of receiving sexual bribes, is preparing to file a provisional injunction since he will be automatically dismissed once the emergency committee is put in place, while some members are demanding Lee to stand down.

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On Tuesday, the People Power Party will hold a national meeting of central and local party leaders to confirm the launch of an emergency committee. Once the emergency committee chair is named in the wake of the revision of the party constitution, the PPP leadership will undergo another upheaval. PPP leader Lee Jun-seok, slated for automatic dismissal once the emergency committee is in place, is getting ready to file for a provisional injunction. He is weighing whether to include in his petition for injunction the emergency committee establishment procedure which involved a leadership meeting where two supreme committee members who had announced their intention to resign had voted. He is also thinking about including in his petition, the ethics committee's disciplinary actions handed down even before he was questioned by police. Lee plans to hold a press conference on the matter on August 13th. Some party members are preparing for class action and public opinion war. On Monday, an online group that claims to be dedicated to restoring honor to the PPP held a public debate with roughly 100 people in Yeouido. One thousand party members vowed to file a class action suit. Pro-Lee Jun-seok representative Ha Tae-keung demanded the party constitution revision that compels Lee's dismissal be voted down at the national committee meeting. Ha claimed the ruling bloc cannot become a pathetic political party that leaves its fate in a judge's hands. Meanwhile, Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo highlighted that disrupting the party is causing a ruckus and that Lee should be prudent and bide his time. Representatives siding with President Yoon are refraining from making their stances public, but many of them believe that Lee should stop now and step down honorably to wait for another chance in the future. Meanwhile, former PPP floor leader and five-term representative Joo Ho-young is likely to chair the emergency committee.