UPP calls for re-vote due to server error

By Kim Susan Se-jeong

The leadership election for the Unified Progressive Party (UPP) came to a standstill Wednesday due to an error in a server that was tallying the votes from online balloting, dragging the party into yet another controversy after a vote rigging scandal earlier this year.

The voting, which started Monday, had been set to finish Thursday. However, after an emergency meeting following the disappearance of a file containing 30 percent of eligible votes, the minor party declared the votes void and decided to reschedule the election for the coming Monday. The party held a meeting Thursday to discuss the finalization of the decision.

“The file containing the votes has disappeared for an unknown reason,” said the party after consulting technicians, concluding it was not possible to restore the crucial file, containing approximately 17,900 votes.

The former vice governor of South Gyeongsang Province Kang Byeong-gi, who has often been equated with the old leadership by his reformist rival for the chairman’s slot, Kang Ki-kab, commented that they must “normalize” the situation through a re-vote as soon as possible.

However, the latest incident may prove fatal to the already divided party, which has been split since the old leadership lost power after the vote-rigging scandal.

Kim Mi-hyui, a member of the National Assembly, demanded that emergency committee Chairman Kang Ki-kab take responsibility and resign for mismanagement of the election. She accused the committee of selecting an untested company to manage the voters and the chairman of being preoccupied with gaining power, taking “extreme measures such as expulsion” against those who were critical of him.

On the other hand, the reformist faction remained consistent with its demands for lawmakers Lee Seok-ki and Kim Jae-yeon, who assumed positions in the Assembly despite the vote-rigging, to step down. The two lawmakers claimed that the two separate reports, which state that the election was poorly managed overall, are one-sided results of a poor investigation.

With arguments renewing and the election reset, the party is back to square one. But it may be worse off than before.

Comments on the party’s homepage heavily criticize the recent conduct of the UPP, calling the party “irresponsible” and “incompetent.” The party, which had once had 75,000 members, lost about 20,000 members after the vote rigging scandal, which had not even been resolved when the recent server error accident marred its name again.