GNP to Vote on Sejong Plan in Early March
By Lee Tae-hoon
Staff Reporter
The governing Grand National Party (GNP) will likely vote on the party's official platform regarding the Sejong City issue early next month, GNP officials said, Monday.
"The voting is expected to take place around March 10, soon after the government submits the bill on Sejong," a lawmaker said on condition of anonymity.
Rep. Jeong Tae-keun of the GNP, meanwhile, said, "The party should make efforts to wrap up the issue by the end of second week of the March."
Jeong belongs to the party's mainstream faction, which is loyal to President Lee Myung-bak.
GNP floor leader Ahn Sang-soo also expressed his willingness to hold a meeting of party legislators every day until the end of the week.
The first such meeting was held Monday in an attempt to reach a consensus on the Sejong issue amid a growing factional feud within the party.
"I plan to hold a general meeting almost every day until this weekend," Ahn said. "I urge you not to try to conclude the issue in a day, and instead to discuss the issue by opening up to all possibilities without losing dignity as debates will continue for several days."
Lawmakers of the Park Geun-hye faction, who considered boycotting the general meeting, participated in the first general meeting due to fear that the public may turn its back on them.
However, former GNP Chairwoman Park Geun-hye did not participate in the closed-door discussions.
Earlier in the day, Lee Jung-hyun, a lawmaker of the Park faction, said that pro-Lee lawmakers have engaged in character assassination against Park over the issue.
According to Sisa Chang, a weekly magazine, Rep. Chin Soo-hee of the Lee faction told Park on Feb. 11, "Unless you are going to cheat us, you should bolt from the party."
The magazine claims that another pro-Lee lawmaker, Yeo Sang-kyoo told Park on the same day, "People even say that you dictate the faction because you look like your father."
Park is the eldest daughter of Park Chung-hee, who led the country for 18 years after a military coup d'etat in 1961.
Park's faction supports the original plan for Sejong City which calls for relocating nine ministries and four government offices from Seoul to the Chungcheong region.
Meanwhile, the Lee faction supports the government's revision plan to build a business-friendly town fostering research and education.