The Saenuri Party’s leadership on Friday managed to reach a compromise on its nomination tug-of-war, by leaving controversial constituencies vacant in exchange for signing off on the remaining nominations of candidates with strong affiliation to President Park Geun-hye.
The consensus came a day after ruling Saenuri Party chairman Rep. Kim Moo-sung refused to seal a total of five nominations for the April 13 general election, pushing the party into disarray with rival members contemplating bypassing the leader’s ultimatum.
Chairman Kim Moo-sung is surrounded by press as he tries to enter his office in Seoul on Friday. (Yonhap)
The pro-Park members had claimed that Kim’s refusal of nomination was equivalent to a chairmanship vacuum, which would in turn allow an emergency operation led by the floor leader instead.
As Kim remained determined, his challengers agreed to not nominate any candidate for the constituencies represented by their former members Reps. Yoo Seong-min and Rep. Lee Jae-oh.
In exchange, Kim agreed to endorse the nominations of three others considered loyalists to President Park Geun-hye and members of the faction rivaling chairman Kim, including former interior minister Chong Jong-sup.
Lee Jae-man, whose nomination for a Daegu constituency was canceled by the Saenuri Party leadership, voices his opposition to the press Friday. (Yonhap)
On Thursday, Kim had announced in a press conference that he refused to put his stamp -- the last formal nomination procedure -- on five constituencies, including one in Daegu represented by former floor leader Yoo and one in Eunpyeong in Seoul of Rep. Lee. The move was in favor of the two, who left the party to run as independents after the nominations committee dominated by the pro-Park members refused to put up the veterans.
Yoo has been specifically branded by President Park as a political traitor since last year. His defection and bid to run as an independent was considered a blow to the ruling party’s reception in the metropolitan region, which has relatively more political flexibility than other regions with strong political allegiance.
Some described the chairman’s decision as a challenge against President Park, while others viewed it as a strategic move to amplify his power of command against the pro-Park members postelection.
The last-minute agreement, made just hours before the official candidate registration closed, was considered a feat for Kim to have successfully flexed his political muscle by raising the stakes.
Kim had said earlier Friday that his call had nothing to do with Cheong Wa Dae and that it was simply to uphold the party constitution and regulations, citing the “unilateral way” the nominations were decided by the committee chaired by Rep. Lee Hahn-koo.
“(It was an inevitable decision to hold off the nominations) as we faced a crisis of foreseeing an election annihilation due to wrongful nominations that drove off the people,” Kim said.
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