GNP struggles to revise party charter

By Kim Se-jeong

The ruling Grand National Party’s emergency committee found itself in discord Monday over the revision of the party’s charter that requires a member aspiring to run for a presidential election to resign from an inner-party post 18 months in advance.

Advocates for the revision were Rep. Chung Mong-joon and Kim Moon-soo, the governor of Gyeonggi Province, who stated 18 months is too long. The two reportedly have their eyes on the party’s ticket for the December presidential elections next year. Having to resign from key posts in the party would mean they would have less opportunity to build on their candidacy within the GNP, in particular against the current leading presidential hopeful, Rep. Park Geun-hye.

Park, a former party chairwoman, however has repeatedly said that a party leader should not be allowed to bid to be on the ticket for the presidency and vice versa.

“We all know how much we had to struggle to get what we have right now,” she was quoted as saying Monday at the National Assembly. The current charter was completed in 2005 when Park was chairwoman, after 57 hearings over nine months in order to ensure that one figure does note exercise paramount power in the party.

Another clause that sparked heated discussion was the method of electing party’s supreme council members and the chairman.

Under the current charter, the chairman and five supreme council members are elected through one single election at the party convention ― the first winner with the largest vote gets the chairmanship and the five others become council members. The revised constitution will separate the election for each category.

The ad-hoc committee has set Monday as a self-imposed deadline to finalize details for the party convention slated for July 4.

The party convention will seek new leadership that will steer the ruling party through the general elections in April and the presidential election in December next year.

The ad hoc committee was born after the ruling party was bested by the main opposition Democratic Party in traditional strongholds in the April by-elections.

Chairman Ahn Sang-soo resigned, held accountable for the defeat, and the committee was born with a 60-day expiration date. The party also elected Rep. Hwang Woo-yea as its floor leader in the wake of the by-elections defeat.