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| Reporters surround Rep. Lee Hahn-koo, left, head of the ruling Saenuri Party's nominations committee, in an elevator at the party's headquarters on Yeouido, southern Seoul, Thursday. / Yonhap |
Party leader clashes with Park loyalists
By Kim Hyo-jin
The ruling Saenuri Party Chairman Kim Moo-sung and lawmakers loyal to President Park Geun-hye collided head-on Thursday over nominations for the April 13 general election.
Rep. Won Yoo-chul, the party's floor leader and a Park loyalist, called on Kim to apologize for postponing the approval of the candidates list and criticized him for harming the independence of the nominations committee. Kim struck back, saying he will seek measures to curb the committee's power.
With Kim trading barbs with Park loyalists over what he claims were unfair decisions, speculation is rising that current lawmakers excluded from the nominations will quit and form an alliance to run in the elections as independents.
"It is regretful that Kim is harming the impartiality of the nominations committee," Won said. "He should apologize for publicly expressing his opposition to the candidates list while discussions were still ongoing in the Supreme Council."
The remarks came a day after Kim raised questions over the latest candidate selections that ruled out some heavyweights from the non-Park faction, and accused the nominations committee of violating party rules.
The party leadership was supposed to approve the list in a Supreme Council meeting Wednesday, but Kim put the meeting on hold, causing a backlash from other council members, mostly Park loyalists.
"It's not a mature attitude as a leader of the party," Rep. Kim Tae-ho, a council member, said, denouncing Kim's "intervention" in the nominations procedure.
Kim dismissed the criticism, saying "There is nothing to apologize for."
"I will continue my efforts to preserve the party constitution," he said.
He said he will discuss the matter, today, at a Supreme Council meeting.
Meanwhile, lawmakers who were excluded from the nominations launched an all-out offensive against Park loyalists.
"The nominations should be nullified for applying arbitrary criteria presented by Lee Hahn-koo (head of the nominations committee)," Rep. Kim Yong-tae said during a press conference. Urging the party leader not to approve the nominations list, Kim said he will request a general party meeting to seek a consensus among fellow lawmakers.
Rep. Chin Young, former minister of health and welfare, vowed to quit the party, calling his exclusion "bitter retaliation."
Chin is the second incumbent lawmaker to quit the party after the latest nominations list was announced, following Rep. Yim Tae-hee, former chief of staff under the Lee Myung-bak administration, Wednesday. Chin stepped down from the ministerial post in 2013, following conflict with Park for changing her pledge on basic pensions.
Rep. Cho Hae-jin, an associate to Rep. Yoo Seong-min, who also failed to gain a ticket, mentioned that lawmakers in the non-Park faction could form an alliance outside the party and run as independents.
"It's possible as the nominations committee and the party leadership keep betraying party members and disappointing the public," he said in a radio interview.
Amid the widening chasm between the factions, the party has yet to unveil whether it will nominate Yoo. Observers view that the party delay this intentionally, aiming to prevent opponents from rallying behind the lawmaker.
The nominations announced Tuesday brought severe repercussions to the party as it excluded most incumbent lawmakers affiliated to former President Lee Myung-bak and Yoo who is estranged from President Park.
Most Park loyalists, however, won a ticket for the race, raising suspicions that she and her aides exerted influence over the procedure.
Of the 149 candidates who were confirmed to run in the race, 87 are members of the pro-Park faction.
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