By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff Reporter
Rep. Park Geun-hye of the Grand National Party (GNP) Thursday urged President-elect Lee Myung-bak to start the selection of party candidates to run in the National Assembly elections in April before his inauguration on Feb. 25.
Park told reporters that the party should follow the same time schedule as the 2004 elections.
``In 2004, candidate selection started in mid-January and I assumed the party leadership after the selection was completed,'' said Park who was narrowly defeated by Lee in the party's presidential primary race last year.
Park's reaction came amid the growing discord between President-elect Lee's confidants and aides of Park over the party's schedule for candidate selection.
Lee has said the selection should come after his government reorganization plan and the nomination of key officials gets approval from the Assembly, which would be after he takes office.
His remarks triggered objections from Park and her close aides.
They said the schedule delay indicated that Lee and his followers were trying to dominate the party nominations for the parliamentary elections, party sources said.
``Rumors have it that Lee's aides created a secret task force outside the party, which has already started candidate selection,'' Rep. Yoo Seong-min said in a radio interview.
Yoo, a member of a GNP faction led by Park, said he and her other supporters felt that they should not wait until the President-elect makes a decision on the campaign schedule.
Yoo said the GNP leaders should start the selection without delay as the party platform states.
He indicated that like-minded lawmakers could take collective action if party leaders do not take follow-up measures soon.
The GNP platform states that members of its Supreme Council, the top decision-making body of the party, are entitled to make the nominations.
Rep. Kim Moo-sung joined the attack. Kim said the time overlap of the transition team activities and candidate selection was not a compelling reason for the delay.
Kim said Supreme Council members should convene a meeting to discuss the campaign schedule soon and make a decision in a transparent manner.
GNP floor leader Ahn Sang-soo, a confident of Lee, said it was inevitable for the incoming President to influence the candidate selection as his opinion should be reflected in it.