Seoul: The conservative People Power Party (PPP) has initiated an unprecedented process to replace its presidential candidate following the collapse of merger talks between its standard-bearer Kim Moon-soo and former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo. This move comes amid fears that the party’s chances in the upcoming June 3 presidential poll could be jeopardized if the conservative camp fails to present a unified front, especially as Lee Jae-myung, the liberal Democratic Party candidate, continues to widen his lead.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the PPP convened an emergency committee and election management body to address the cancellation of Kim’s candidacy, Han’s party membership, and other related issues. Rep. Lee Yang-soo, head of the PPP election committee, announced on the party’s website that Han has registered as the party’s presidential candidate and has formally joined the party.

The PPP notified its members of the decision to cancel Kim’s candidacy and opened candidate registration for one hour at 3 a.m. The party plans to put the motion for candidate reelection to a vote and finalize its presidential candidate by Sunday, the deadline for official registration with the state election committee.

Kim Moon-soo has strongly criticized the PPP’s decision, describing it as a “midnight political coup” and an “unprecedented anti-democratic act.” He has vowed to take legal and political actions against those responsible and has filed a court injunction to prevent the cancellation of his candidacy, marking his second legal action since becoming a presidential contender.

The PPP has defended its decision, accusing Kim of thwarting efforts to unify the candidacy and stating that the choice to disqualify him was necessary. Kwon Young-se, the PPP’s emergency committee chief, emphasized that unifying the candidacy was essential to counter Lee Jae-myung’s lead and was not a political maneuver for any individual or faction. Kwon also apologized to the public for the failure to politically compromise and pledged to take responsibility for the party’s decisions.

More than half of the party members’ votes are required to pass the cancellation motion against Kim. If this threshold is not reached, Kim will retain his candidacy. The PPP invoked a clause in its key law that allows for a candidate replacement through an emergency committee decision when a “considerable” reason exists.

Kim’s stance has shifted since his nomination as the party’s official candidate, moving away from his earlier support for a unified candidacy with Han. Despite pressure from the party leadership to merge candidacies, Kim insisted on pursuing a unified candidacy through an opinion poll scheduled for May 15-16. Recent opinion polls, including the National Barometer Survey, show Han leading Kim, with Lee Jae-myung maintaining a significant lead.

A Seoul court recently dismissed Kim’s petition against the party leadership’s push for a campaign merger with Han, while PPP lawmakers have agreed to grant full authority to the party leadership for potentially reselecting the presidential candidate.