Park Geun-hye Hints at Boycotting Primary

By Lee Jin-woo

Staff Reporter

Rep. Park Geun-hye, one of two leading presidential contenders of the main opposition Grand National Party (GNP), Thursday hinted at boycotting the party primary to pick the candidate.

She made the indication a day after GNP chairman Kang Jae-sup proposed a revised nomination formula, which she derided as undemocratic, but her rival Lee Myung-bak accepted.

It is still unclear whether she intends to quit the party or whether her threat is part of a campaign strategy to gain the upper hand over Lee.

Park's aides, however, dismissed speculation that the dispute might lead to a breakup of the GNP, which has the largest force on the floor.

``There is no way we will leave the GNP. You should remember Park's great contribution to save the party in past struggles,'' Rep. Yoo Seung-min, one of the de facto spokesmen for Park, said.

Kang urged the two contenders to accept his compromise plan.

``If the executive meeting refuses to accept my idea, we will not be able to hold the primary in August as scheduled,'' the chairman said. ``We need at least a month to prepare for the big event in which over 200,000 people will take part.''

However, Park shows little sign of compromise, at least at this stage.

``If the party goes this way, it shows the party does not have any principles and is totally disorganized,'' the former GNP chairwoman told reporters Thursday. ``Under this situation, a primary wouldn't be possible.''

Park, the eldest daughter of the late President Park Chung-hee, is behind the former Seoul mayor in major opinion polls. But she believes she has a strong chance of winning the nomination if the primary is held under the current formula. She is believed to be neck and neck in popularity among party members.

The chairman's compromise proposal gives more weight to the opinion poll results. Park and her aides opposed the revision. Internally, it is generally believed that Park has secured more support among members of the GNP than Lee.

The party plans to hold an executive meeting of its leaders nationwide on May 21. Once the executives endorse the compromise plan, Lee and Park must participate in the nomination competition.

Under Kang's proposal, the number of delegates participating in the primaries would increase to 231, 652, an increase of 31,652 from the previous plan. The figure accounts for 0.5 percent of all voters.

In order to raise voter turnout, Kang said a system would be introduced, under which voting in every municipal district would be held simultaneously.