Low, low times for the UPP

After showing some signs of hope, the United Progressive Party has faltered again. Previously, the UPP leadership put to the party-wide vote the expulsion of its two Assembly members, Lee Seok-Gi and Kim Jae-Yeon, who rigged the votes in UPP’s primary election to get themselves on the proportional representation slate.  Yesterday, the expulsion proposal failed. UPP chief Gang Gi-Gap publicly despaired that “the renewal of the party has been shipwrecked.”

Recall that the UPP is a result of a merger of three parties:  Democratic Labor Party, Participation Party and a small portion of the New Progressive Party. The vote presumably failed because two Assembly members belong to the DLP faction of the UPP, which outnumbers the other two factions.

At this point, it appears that the UPP is headed for a split. Already, the party members that belonged to the Participation Party and New Progressive Party factions are quitting the UPP in droves. DUP has previously indicated that it would no longer ally with the UPP unless the two Assembly members were expelled.

As a kicker, this girl (seen here assaulting the UPP official) turned herself in to the police today.