An internal rift at the Unified Progressive Party is escalating, as hundreds of members clashed Saturday over how to revive the party torn apart by alleged election fraud.
The left-wing minor party has been mired in a factional division since earlier this month when it announced the fairness of its primary to select the party's proportional representation candidates for the April 11 elections had been seriously compromised.
The party has since recommended its leadership and all six lawmakers elected under the proportional representation system should resign over the scandal. A female lawmaker elected through the system has offered to resign, but there have been no such offers from the other five.
The mainstream faction loyal to the East Gyeonggi Coalition, an allegedly pro-North Korean bloc, rejected the party's internal investigation of the scandal and called for a ballot of all party members to decide the fate of the five other lawmakers-elect.
The rival minority faction called for the resignation of all six lawmakers elected through the proportional representation system, and for the appointment of an interim emergency committee to handle party affairs.
The differences came to a head Saturday night when some 100 members of the mainstream faction dashed to the stage as the party's central committee meeting was underway.
Cho Joon-ho and Rhyu Si-min, two of the UPP's co-leaders who headed the internal probe, were assaulted and Cho's clothing was torn.
Earlier on Saturday, Lee Jung-hee, a UPP leader who was the figurehead for the East Gyeonggi Coalition, stepped down ahead of the central committee meeting. That move was immediately followed by the resignations of three other co-chairs of the party, including Cho and Rhyu.
Lee has claimed the East Gyeonggi Coalition was dissolved a decade ago, but others say the dominant faction was active after 2005.
Seven UPP candidates were elected through direct elections and six others won parliamentary seats under the proportional representation system that allocates seats to parties according to the numbers of votes they receive.
The UPP, which was created just five months ago, has become the third-largest party in the 300-seat National Assembly, which is set to begin its four-year-term later this month.
(Yonhap News)
통합진보당 왜 이러나…폭력, 파행…
통합진보당은 12일 중앙위원회를 열었으나 회의에 반대하는 당권파들이 단상을 점거, 회의가 중단됐다.
당권파 당원 100여명은 이날 오후 9시50분께 "해산하라, 불법 중앙위원회"를 외치며 단상으로 달려나갔으며 이 과정에서 격렬한 물리적 충돌이 빚어졌다.
특히 단상에 있던 심상정 유시민 조준호 공동대표가 빠져나오지 못했으며, 특히 조준호 공동대표는 당권파 당원들에게 수차례 폭행을 당했으며 옷이 찢어지는 등 봉변을 당했다.
통합진보당은 이날 오후 2시부터 4ㆍ11 총선 이후 당의 진로에 대해 논의할 계획이었으나 비례대표 경선 부정 의혹에 대한 입장 차이로 파행을 거듭하고 있다.
진보논객 진중권 동양대 교수는 12일 자신의 트위터에 "아, 오늘로 대한민국 진보는 죽었습니다"라고 말했다.
진 교수는 이어 "낡은 진보는 저기서 확실히 죽었다. 그 시체위에서 새로운 진보로 부활하기를.."이라며 "저기에 굴하면 안 됩니다. 이 싸움, 반드시 이겨야 합니다"라고 심경을 밝혔다.
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