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| Rep. Woo Won-shik, right, a Supreme Council member of the New Politics Alliance for Democracy, together with other party members, holds a protest against the ruling Saenuri Party and President Park Geun-hye at Seoul Plaza, Monday, calling for scrapping the party nomination system for the June 4 local elections. From left are Reps. Yang Seoung-jo, Won Hye-young, Shin Kyoung-min and Woo. / Yonhap |
By Jun Ji-hye
The ruling and opposition parties have been locking horns for months over whether to abolish the practice of parties nominating candidates for lower-level municipal and provincial council elections.
The ruling Saenuri Party decided to maintain the system in the upcoming June 4 local polls, while the New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD), a newly established coalition between the Democratic Party (DP) and supporters of Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo, is pushing to end the practice.
Confrontation further intensified after Rep. Ahn, co-chairman of the NPAD, proposed a meeting with President Park Geun-hye, Sunday, to discuss the issue.
He criticized the governing side for breaking a campaign pledge made during the 2012 presidential election.
President Park has yet to respond.
A call for scrapping the nomination system first came to the fore in the presidential election after Ahn, then an independent candidate, made the proposal as a measure to reform political culture in October, 2012 during his lecture to Daegu University students.
President Park, the then ruling party candidate, and Rep. Moon Jae-in, the DP's hopeful, expressed their agreement with Ahn, making a common campaign pledge.
But the governing camp recently decided to maintain the system, saying the abolition could cause unexpected side effects, such as a flood of unqualified candidates.
Stalemate continues
Opposition lawmakers argued the true reason behind the decision is that expectation that candidates affiliated with the ruling party will have an advantage in the polls because the public has not much information about, or interest in, the hopefuls themselves.
In particular, the governing side wants this to work in elections for members of Seoul City Council where the NPAD currently has twice as many representatives as the Saenuri Party.
"The only reason the ruling party wants to maintain the nomination system reflects their greed to maintain the party's power and privileges and control councils," Ahn said.
The nomination system by each party was first introduced in 2006.
However, it drew criticism as local politics came under control of party headquarters, and illegal campaign funding blossomed.
"There have been perceptions among potential candidates that, once nominated in the home turf of a certain party, there is no doubt of their election. So, some ended up doing anything to be nominated," said Bae Jong-chan, chief director at Research and Research, an opinion survey company.
"From Ahn's point of view, pushing for the scrapping of top-down nominations is a card he can never throw away as it provides proof of his drive for new politics, which has been blamed for being too vague."
If achieved, Ahn could bring the issue to the next presidential election as well and use it to attack a ruling party candidate, he added.
"He is tasked with overcoming resistance from party members as well as attracting public interest about the issue," said Bae.
Some senior lawmakers from the DP including Rep. Moon recently expressed their skepticism about the end of the nomination system, saying that if only the NPAD follows through with it, the results will favor the ruling party.
Rep. Park Dae-chul, a ruling party spokesman, said, "Ahn will have to resolve internal conflict first before making such a proposal to the President and the Saenuri Party."
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