SEOUL, The ruling People Power Party (PPP) has concluded that it cannot hold a national convention to elect a new leader after Chairman Lee Jun-seok was suspended over a sexual bribery scandal, the party's floor leader said Monday.

Rep. Kweon Seong-dong, who serves as acting chairman after Lee was suspended last week, told reporters that the party's secretariat reached the conclusion after a review of the party charter and regulations, and the party's Supreme Council endorsed the conclusion.

The secretariat's planning and coordination bureau determined that a national convention can be held only when the party's chairmanship becomes vacant, and the suspension of Lee's party membership does not belong to the category, Kweon said.

On Friday, the PPP's ethics committee suspended Lee's party membership for six months over allegations that he received sexual services paid for by a businessman seeking his influence in 2013 and attempted to cover up the wrongdoing earlier this year after the allegations surfaced.

Lee, who has pleaded his innocence, said he will not step down as party chairman and will take all possible measures to reverse the ethics panel's decision, including filing for a court injunction and requesting a reexamination.

Kweon also said Lee should accept the ethics committee's decision.

"The disciplinary measure has been finalized with the ethics committee's decision," he said. "It is the senior party members' consensus that the committee's decision should be accommodated."

Kweon said he has not been in touch with the embattled party chief, saying it is "not the right time" to do so.

Lee has not appeared in public following Friday's verdict.

The PPP has been embroiled in political turmoil following Friday's decision. Lee, who has constantly been at odds with key party members considered closed to President Yoon Suk-yeol, has claimed the ethics committee meeting was political machinations engineered by them.

Source: Yonhap News Agency