Park foes culled, loyalists prevail at nomination
Tuesday deserves a footnote in Korea's political history that marks another setback in democracy, putting the legislative branch ― the ruling Saenuri Party in this case ― under firmer control of the executive, the President. It is another testimony that the system of checks and balances among the three branches of government is on precarious ground right now, opening the doors for one person to gain unrivaled power.
The ruling party by and large has finished its nomination process, the results highlighted by the strong advance of the incumbent lawmakers and aspirants loyal to President Park Geun-hye in getting the party's nominations for the April 13 parliamentary general elections.
What happened on the day Park's detractors called "bloody Tuesday" was well illustrated by the list of those who didn't make the cut. The fifth-term Lee Jae-oh, a vocal critic of President Park and ally of former President Lee Myung-bak faltered as the party chose to make a single nomination of a non-incumbent newcomer. Lee's constituency is Eunpyeong, a northern district in Seoul where the ruling party is not popular.
Third-term Chin Young, who represents the opposition stronghold in Yongsan, also didn't make it. Chin, as health and welfare minister in the President's inaugural Cabinet, had an open spat with her over a key campaign pledge on the basic pension and resigned. Rumors about him not getting the party's nomination had been around for months. Problematic candidates such as the International Olympic Committee member Moon Dae-sung who was found to have plagiarized his doctoral thesis was re-nominated. By some estimates, the rate of the incumbents being dropped, often the barometer of the level of reforms, was incomparable to the above-40 registered in the outgoing 19th assembly.
But the most chilling example was about Rep.Yoo Seung-min from Daegu, the President's power base. Yoo was the last one whose fate was decided but six of his 10 allies were axed, virtually rendering him powerless regardless of his fate. The crime committed by Yoo, former economist and son of a renowned politician, was, according to his supporters, antagonizing Park by denouncing Park's campaign pledge for greater welfare without a tax increase as a "fiction."
This type of political purge by nomination is not uncommon as former President Lee did it and the main opposition Minju Party of Korea, when it was in power, did the same. This means further helping revive the backwater "boss politics" in which lawmakers pledge their allegiance to their respective leader and then cut backroom deals, oftentimes their duty for their constituents being ignored.
For instance, Rep. Lee Hahn-koo, who is loyal to Park, is leading the nomination committee but he has made it a rule not to talk about the reasons how specific candidates made the cut or did not.
He resorted to what he called three principles, which are not relevant to the party regulations. They are: 1) whether the aspirant meets the code of conduct expected for a lawmaker; 2) whether he or she complies with the party's directions; 3) multi-term lawmakers in "easy" districts should be excluded. Yoo obviously has violated No.2 for his run-in with the President, although there was no way of knowing it for sure because Lee made no explanation. Cheong Wa Dae insists that it had nothing to do with the nominations.
The real problem with the "one-boss politics" will likely come later.
As things stand now, the ruling party's candidates would dominate the April elections, unless the current opposition can come together and make a strong appeal to the electorate. The chance is that those ruling party candidates who will have won in April will act as if they are a regiment of the President's men and execute her will in the legislature. There would be no opposition to speak of to block Park from having her way. Would the judiciary stand in the way of a President who controls the legislature? We know what we call a person who has concentrated powers, don't we?
Tuesday deserves a footnote in Korea's political history that marks another setback in democracy, putting the legislative branch ― the ruling Saenuri Party in this case ― under firmer control of the executive, the President. It is another testimony that the system of checks and balances among the three branches of government is on precarious ground right now, opening the doors for one person to gain unrivaled power.
The ruling party by and large has finished its nomination process, the results highlighted by the strong advance of the incumbent lawmakers and aspirants loyal to President Park Geun-hye in getting the party's nominations for the April 13 parliamentary general elections.
What happened on the day Park's detractors called "bloody Tuesday" was well illustrated by the list of those who didn't make the cut. The fifth-term Lee Jae-oh, a vocal critic of President Park and ally of former President Lee Myung-bak faltered as the party chose to make a single nomination of a non-incumbent newcomer. Lee's constituency is Eunpyeong, a northern district in Seoul where the ruling party is not popular.
Third-term Chin Young, who represents the opposition stronghold in Yongsan, also didn't make it. Chin, as health and welfare minister in the President's inaugural Cabinet, had an open spat with her over a key campaign pledge on the basic pension and resigned. Rumors about him not getting the party's nomination had been around for months. Problematic candidates such as the International Olympic Committee member Moon Dae-sung who was found to have plagiarized his doctoral thesis was re-nominated. By some estimates, the rate of the incumbents being dropped, often the barometer of the level of reforms, was incomparable to the above-40 registered in the outgoing 19th assembly.
But the most chilling example was about Rep.Yoo Seung-min from Daegu, the President's power base. Yoo was the last one whose fate was decided but six of his 10 allies were axed, virtually rendering him powerless regardless of his fate. The crime committed by Yoo, former economist and son of a renowned politician, was, according to his supporters, antagonizing Park by denouncing Park's campaign pledge for greater welfare without a tax increase as a "fiction."
This type of political purge by nomination is not uncommon as former President Lee did it and the main opposition Minju Party of Korea, when it was in power, did the same. This means further helping revive the backwater "boss politics" in which lawmakers pledge their allegiance to their respective leader and then cut backroom deals, oftentimes their duty for their constituents being ignored.
For instance, Rep. Lee Hahn-koo, who is loyal to Park, is leading the nomination committee but he has made it a rule not to talk about the reasons how specific candidates made the cut or did not.
He resorted to what he called three principles, which are not relevant to the party regulations. They are: 1) whether the aspirant meets the code of conduct expected for a lawmaker; 2) whether he or she complies with the party's directions; 3) multi-term lawmakers in "easy" districts should be excluded. Yoo obviously has violated No.2 for his run-in with the President, although there was no way of knowing it for sure because Lee made no explanation. Cheong Wa Dae insists that it had nothing to do with the nominations.
The real problem with the "one-boss politics" will likely come later.
As things stand now, the ruling party's candidates would dominate the April elections, unless the current opposition can come together and make a strong appeal to the electorate. The chance is that those ruling party candidates who will have won in April will act as if they are a regiment of the President's men and execute her will in the legislature. There would be no opposition to speak of to block Park from having her way. Would the judiciary stand in the way of a President who controls the legislature? We know what we call a person who has concentrated powers, don't we?
