Ex-Seoul Mayor Wins GNP Presidential Nomination
Former Seoul Mayor Calls for Party Unity for December Victory
By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff Reporter
Former Seoul Mayor Lee Myung-bak, 66, Monday won the main opposition Grand national Party's (GNP) nomination to compete in the Dec. 19 presidential election.
Lee edged former party Chairwoman Park Geun-hye, 55, by 2,452 votes in Sunday's primary, the conservative party announced at its nomination convention in Seoul.
Admitting her defeat as ``fair," Park vowed to fight as an ordinary party member for the GNP's victory in the election.
Lee won 81,084 votes or 49.56 percent of the total eligible votes, while Park received 78,632 or 48.06 percent.
In his acceptance speech, the nominee pledged that he would do his best to win the presidential race.
``From now on, I will work closely with my supporters and opponents to have the GNP win December's election. I will place top priority on uniting all GNP members under one roof,'' he said.
``I will incorporate key campaign pledges of other candidates into my policy vision. I will help the economy grow faster so that the country can become an advanced country in five years,'' he said.
Following the convention at the Jamsil Gymnastics Hall, the nominee told reporters that the contentious issue over his property will not hold back his candidacy any longer.
``There will be no further developing stories regarding my property in the future. And I don't see the possibility of the property issue putting me in trouble again,'' he said.
He praised Park for conceding defeat at the convention and said he would ask her to help his bid for the presidency move forward.
Lee lost in the vote by delegates, party members and invited non-partisan participants by 432 votes. Their votes accounted for 80 percent of the total score in selecting the nominee. But he won a public opinion poll by 8.5 percentage points over Park.
Three polling agencies conducted separate surveys of 5,490 citizens on Sunday. The survey results constituted the remaining 20 percent of the score.
Consequently, his winning in the opinion poll offset his loss in the vote allowing him to clinch the nomination.
In the primary, Rep. Won Hee-ryong won 2,398 votes or 1.47 percent, while Rep. Hong Joon-pyo, a three-term legislator, garnered 1,503 votes or 0.92 percent.
Political analysts said Lee's victory is a consequence of a high voter turnout, which stood at 70.8 percent, almost the same as the presidential election in 2002.
Lee's camp said the former Seoul mayor was winning the opinion polls by double-digits before the primary.
GNP leaders are now working on a post-primary strategy for the presidential election.
Party leader Kang Jae-sup said members will make every effort to allow the winner and runners-up to find common ground.
``The worst scenario is that Lee and Park and their aides keep infighting after the primary, instead of uniting and working together. Even though the losing candidate conceded defeat, there is a possibility that she will fail to work closely with the winner for the presidential election,'' Kang said.
There are growing calls inside the party that finding common ground for Lee and Park is the foremost goal of the party.
Political observers are questioning if the opposition party can make this happen as the overheated race left many unresolved issues.