In February, 2024, there will be a PNU presidential election. In advance of this, the General Students' Association (GSA) has called for revising the regulations governing the selection of presidential candidates. The GSA has taken a strong stance, stating that they will boycott the whole election by abstaining from the Presidential Appointment Recommendation Committee (PARC), the first step of the election, if the Faculty Council (FC) does not accept their demand.

On August 17, before the 8th memorial ceremony for Prof. Ko Hyeon-Cheol, the GSA conducted a silent picketing demanding a revision of “the regulations about presidential candidate selection.” Additionally, the GSA issued a joint statement with 17 colleges and the Pusan National University (PNU) Club Association. They insisted that the composition of the PARC for the 22nd PNU Presidential Election is undemocratic and inappropriate to represent students' opinions. Consequently, they demanded that the regulation be revised to increase the proportion of students.

The PARC manages the entire presidential candidate election process according to the regulations about presidential candidate selection. As demanded by the FC, the PARC comprises 26 members: 15 faculty members, 1 staff, 1 assistant, 2 students, 6 external personnels, and 1 alumnus. The PARC also discusses the reflection rates of votes by the voters who are not faculty members: the staff, assistants, and students.

A regulation specifies that agreements on the selection process should be made in collaboration with students. Therefore, the GSA argues that the present formation of the PARC is unreasonable as it rarely reflects the students’ opinions. In September, 2021, according to the revised Educational Officials Act, the selection process in the PARC changed from “the agreed-upon method and procedure of the university’s faculty” to “the agreed-upon method and procedure of the university’s faculty, staff, and students.” Consequently, the GSA insists that the election should be completed democratically from the outset, as this is the first presidential election after the act’s revision.

The GSA suggests a revision to ensure that “the members in a specific occupational group cannot exceed the majority” to prevent the situation where faculty members constitute the majority of the PARC. To make decisions in the PARC, currently, at least 14 members are needed, which is more than half of total 26 members. The GSA proposed organizing the PARC with 30 members: 13 faculty members, 4 staff, 3 assistants, 6 students, 3 external personnels, and 1 alumnus.

The FC maintains that altering the committee composition ratio is not meaningful as the PARC is an executive body, not a decision-making body. It explains the inclusion of two students in PARC is for hearing the perspectives of both college and graduate school students. Kim Jeong-Gu (Prof. of School of Computer Science and Engineering), the Dean of FC, said, “If there are discussions about changing the vote reflection ratio after the PARC formation, we will organize a separate committee for the revision of election regulations to ensure the participation of staff, assistants, and students.” He added, “We will make efforts to ensure that the presidential election is not just a power struggle based on the number of votes but a celebration of dialogue and discussion among the members.”

Despite the stance of the FC, the GSA remains firmly set in its position that the change should start from the PARC. Part of the GSA’s firm stance is influenced by the conflicts in process during the 21st presidential election four years ago. At that time, the 52nd GSA, known as “Togethers,” demanded an increase in the ratio of student votes being reflected but was not accepted. Thus, all student electors boycotted the 21st presidential election.

The current reflection ratio for students’ votes is 3.9167%, which means 48 votes are available when all 1,200 faculty members vote. Kim Yo-Seop (Dept. of Korean Language and Literature, 20), president of the GSA, said, “If we engage in discussion within PARC, where the faculty members constitute the majority, it would inevitably repeat the situation of four years ago. Without an agreement with the FC, the GSA will not recommend any students for the PARC.”

While the groups have different perspectives, there is little time left before the deadline for regulatory revision. Personnel recommendations for the PARC should be made before October 10, seven months before the end of the 21st president’s term. Nevertheless, the GSA, the staff association, and the assistant association have not recommended them. According to the Division of Academic Affairs, revising the university regulations takes six weeks on average. Considering the schedule for the PARC organization, the groups should agree with each other as soon as possible.

On August 30, as there has yet to be progress in discussion about the revision with the FC, the GSA revealed that they would initiate actions such as a constitutional petition, a regional press meeting, and a news conference. 

The following is the full text of the statement.

Reporter You Seung-Hyun

Translated by Lee Soo-Hyun