The mainstream faction of the United Progressive Party is digging itself deeper into a hole as it struggles to retain power in the face of mounting pressure to take responsibility for alleged fraud in the primaries for the April 11 general election.

The faction, led by Lee Jung-hee, one of the UPP’s four co-leaders, rejected the recommendation adopted by the party’s National Steering Committee over the weekend that the three proportional representation lawmakers-elect chosen through the primary resign as voting irregularities have been committed.

The party secured six parliamentary seats through the proportional representation system, with the other three lawmakers-elect invited from outside.

The mainstreamers organized a public hearing on Tuesday to refute the findings of the party’s investigation team, which claimed last week after a two-week internal inquiry that the selection process was so badly manipulated that its outcome could not be seen as legitimate.

Lee and other faction leaders denounced the investigation team for making groundless allegations of fraud. Lee Seog-gi, one of the three lawmakers-elect selected through the primary, refused to resign and asked instead for a ballot of all party members to determine whether he should quit or not.

The lawmaker-elect, who controls the mainstream faction, argued that the will of party members should be put before anything else.

The faction’s stance, however, is untenable as the investigation team has dug up ample evidence that strongly suggests that voting fraud has been committed, seriously compromising the legitimacy of the primary.

In a democratic society, a political party should conduct its internal affairs democratically. Every step of its decision-making process should be transparent and conform to democratic norms. Otherwise it cannot be seen as an organization capable of representing the electorate.

A political party also needs to be able to read public sentiment if it wants to gain public support. The prevailing view among the public is that the three proportional lawmakers-elect should resign as the primary process has been rigged.

In fact, Yoon Geum-soon, who was ranked first on the party’s candidate list, has already offered to resign. Announcing her decision to quit, Yoon urged the other two to follow suit. She criticized party leader Lee for putting the interest of her faction before that of the party.

The mainstream faction has already lost support from its alliance partners. More importantly, the party’s approval rating has slipped significantly. If the faction continues to ignore common sense and turn a deaf ear to criticism from the party’s staunch supporters, it will dig a grave not only for itself but for the party.