A look at what has been going on in the governing Saenuri Party since last month's general election makes people feel a sense of deja vu. Ten years ago, the then ruling Uri Party was thrown into turmoil following its humiliating defeat in local elections. The liberal party ceded power to the then main opposition Grand National Party, the precursor of the Saenuri Party, in the 2007 presidential election after going through lawmakers' defections and a partisan split.
On Tuesday, the governing party failed to hold two key meetings because of a lack of a quorum as loyalists to President Park Geun-hye boycotted the meetings in protest against the formation of the party's interim panels. The failure could prompt the ruling party to drift indefinitely even without an interim leadership, because the meetings were intended to endorse new floor leader Chung Jin-suk, an emergency committee and an innovation committee.
Chung mostly excluded pro-Park lawmakers from the two panels in what appears to be a move to renew the image of the party tarnished by its stunning defeat in the April 13 parliamentary polls. But Park loyalists reacted angrily to Chung's lineup and boycotted the meetings.
Following the procedural failure, Rep. Kim Yong-tae, who had been tapped to lead the innovation panel, said he would not take up the post. "Our last chance to reform the party has gone up in smoke,'' Kim said.
With the cancellation of the scheduled meetings, the future of the Saenuri Party is murky amid the prolonged vacuum of the leadership. The reality is that internal strife is deepening even as the party has not embarked on rebuilding itself more than a month after its crushing election defeat.
All of this reneges on the will of the people expressed in the election that called for the party's drastic changes and excruciating innovation. It is without doubt that the governing party is responding to these expectations with incessant factional brawls.
In fact, the post-election behaviors of pro-Park legislators have left people speechless. Instead of taking time for soul-searching, they have been groping for tricks merely to maintain their partisan hegemony at the national convention scheduled for late this year. This is unimaginable, considering the Park loyalists were most responsible for the party's election fiasco.
It is long overdue for them to regain their composure and act responsibly. They should commit themselves to renovating the party, centering on the new floor leader who will concurrently serve as head of the emergency committee. If not, the party should be ready for implosion, let alone losing its power.
On Tuesday, the governing party failed to hold two key meetings because of a lack of a quorum as loyalists to President Park Geun-hye boycotted the meetings in protest against the formation of the party's interim panels. The failure could prompt the ruling party to drift indefinitely even without an interim leadership, because the meetings were intended to endorse new floor leader Chung Jin-suk, an emergency committee and an innovation committee.
Chung mostly excluded pro-Park lawmakers from the two panels in what appears to be a move to renew the image of the party tarnished by its stunning defeat in the April 13 parliamentary polls. But Park loyalists reacted angrily to Chung's lineup and boycotted the meetings.
Following the procedural failure, Rep. Kim Yong-tae, who had been tapped to lead the innovation panel, said he would not take up the post. "Our last chance to reform the party has gone up in smoke,'' Kim said.
With the cancellation of the scheduled meetings, the future of the Saenuri Party is murky amid the prolonged vacuum of the leadership. The reality is that internal strife is deepening even as the party has not embarked on rebuilding itself more than a month after its crushing election defeat.
All of this reneges on the will of the people expressed in the election that called for the party's drastic changes and excruciating innovation. It is without doubt that the governing party is responding to these expectations with incessant factional brawls.
In fact, the post-election behaviors of pro-Park legislators have left people speechless. Instead of taking time for soul-searching, they have been groping for tricks merely to maintain their partisan hegemony at the national convention scheduled for late this year. This is unimaginable, considering the Park loyalists were most responsible for the party's election fiasco.
It is long overdue for them to regain their composure and act responsibly. They should commit themselves to renovating the party, centering on the new floor leader who will concurrently serve as head of the emergency committee. If not, the party should be ready for implosion, let alone losing its power.
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