By Kim Sue-young
Staff Reporter
The governing Grand National Party (GNP) will take its time in deciding whether it allows party deserters to rejoin it or not, a spokeswoman said Wednesday.
However, the party will likely have difficulties making a decision as members of its decision-making Supreme Council are divided over the issue.
A day earlier, former GNP Chairwoman Park Geun-hye called on the party leadership to put the matter on the table at the council's meeting.
The delayed decision was construed as the Supreme Council's virtual refusal to allow the deserters rejoining for the time being.
Before the April 9 elections to pick 299 National Assemblymen, more than 10 GNP lawmakers, mostly close to Park, bolted from the party after they failed to win the party's ticket.
They claimed that they were victims of faction-based screening which gave more weight to confidants of President Lee Myung-bak, and vowed to return to the GNP with a parliamentary seat.
Lee successfully ran in the Dec. 19 presidential election on the party's ticket after beating Park in a primary race last year.
GNP Chairman Kang Jae-sup reiterated that he will not allow the deserters to make a comeback to the party because it goes against ``what the people want.''
The tug-of-war between Kang and Park may change as Kang will step down in early July when his term ends, party sources said. The GNP will hold a national convention to elect new leaders.
Some Supreme Council members, on the other hand, insist that the governing party will have to accept the return of the former members.
``I believe, as a politician and council member, we cannot avoid or delay discussing the issue any longer. We have to allow some of them to rejoin the party on a selective basis if unfair screening eliminated them,'' Rep. Chung Hyung-keun said.
He criticized Rep. Lee Jae-oh, who is close to President Lee, claiming that he helped rule out potential rivals and hostile figures in the screening process.
The lawmaker denounced former Secretary-General Lee Bang-ho as well, who was engaged in candidate selection, claiming he deceived both the President and the screening committee members with unfair selections.
Rep. Kim Hak-won urged party leaders to clarify its stance on the matter.
``The GNP currently holds 153 seats but I don't think it is enough. We can face difficulties at any time if we don't seek unity,'' he said.