Ruling Party Will Introduce Preliminary Elections In Cities and Provinces

`Special Committee for the development and renovation of the New Millennium Democratic Party (NMDP)` announced on 9th that "the candidate for the presidential election shall be elected through the preliminary elections in 16 cities and provinces, and that the preliminary elections will begin in Jeju which has the smallest population and end in Seoul which has the largest."

According to the measures of the Special Committee, the order of preliminary elections will be carried out in Jeju, Ulsan, Gwangju, Daejeon, Chungbuk, Gangwon, Chungnam, Jeonbuk, Daegu, Incheon, Gyeongbuk, Gyeongnam, Busan, Kyonggi, and Seoul.

The preliminary elections will be scheduled based on the 1 through 3 days` intervals, regardless of weekends, and the result of the vote will be open on the same day.

Lawmaker Kim Min-Seok, the secretary of the Special Committee, said, "The final result will be difficult to forecast, because the election in large populated area is held late." The Special Committee is also exploring a way to elect the candidates for the mayors or the provincial governors of the local government election next year during the preliminary elections.

Boo Hyung-Kwon bookum90@donga.com