Park vows to take drastic reform of GNP

Ex-GNP leader patches up feud with reformist lawmakers

By Lee Tae-hoon

Rep. Park Geun-hye, former chairwoman of the governing Grand National Party (GNP), said Wednesday that she would push a major overhaul of the conservative party in a meeting with seven reform-minded lawmakers.

“We reached a consensus on the need to work together to bring about change to an extent that goes beyond just launching a new party,” Park said.

The meeting was arranged amid growing criticism that the laconic politician’s weak leadership and communication skills are triggering domino-like resignations.

On Tuesday, Reps. Jeong Tae-keun and Kim Song-sik announced they would leave the GNP to protest its unwillingness to push for major reform and refusal to disband to create a new political party.

Park said she avoided attending party meetings and contacting with her party legislators over the past week to encourage open discussions on the GNP’s future direction.

“I refrained from receiving phone calls and attending general meetings of lawmakers and the emergency planning committee as it could be misconstrued as giving some kind of instruction to them,” she said.

Rep. Hwang Young-cheul, a GNP spokesman, said Park promised to come up with a measure that guarantees to select competent candidates for the general elections next year.

“Park said at the cost of sacrifice from those with vested interests she will formulate a perfect model to screen candidates so that most talented people will have a chance,” he said.

Hwang added that the former party leader has decided to attend a general meeting of GNP lawmakers today to share her views on the party’s pending issues.

During the meeting, GNP lawmakers are expected to have a debate on the role and authority of the emergency committee which she will take the helm until a new leadership is elected.

Park met lawmakers who have demanded drastic reform, including Nam Kyung-pil, to narrow their differences on the direction of the party’s restructuring efforts.

There has been a sense of deepening crisis within the GNP after reformists’ demand that the party be disbanded was rejected by lawmakers loyal to Park.

Former Chairman Hong Joon-pyo stepped down Friday after admitting a lack of support for him in pushing reformative measures.

To counter the growing feud, senior Assemblymen adopted a resolution calling for the emergency committee to review all reform measures, including dismantling the party to create a new one.

Pro-Park lawmakers have been reluctant to create a new party out of fear it would greatly limit her role and influence as interim leader.

Lawmakers loyal to Park claim that the launch of a new party would only intensify power struggles and further weaken the troubled party.

The GNP earlier this week decided to launch an emergency committee and picked Park, eldest daughter of the late President Park Chung-hee, as its chief to carry out a major overhaul of the party ahead of the general elections in April next year.

Earlier in the day, Park visited Shinchon Severance Hospital in Seoul to pay her respects to POSCO founder Park Tae-joon who passed away Tuesday, making her first public appearance in a week.