Top Lee aide attacks Saenuri’s selections

By Chung Min-uck

Rep. Lee Jae-oh, the de facto leader of the pro-Lee Myung-bak faction in the ruling Saenuri Party, openly criticized the party’s candidate choices for the April 11 National Assembly elections, Thursday, calling for a more principled process.

The four-term-lawmaker previously requested the party's selection committee to make public cutoff standards as many incumbent lawmakers excluded from selection were from the pro-Lee faction. The committee said it would unveil specifics of standards to them upon request. The party had earlier set the replacement rate of its incumbents at 25 percent.

“The party should stop emotional and vengeful choices and carry out fair and transparent selections,” said Rep. Lee during a press conference at the National Assembly. “I am saying this as I am really worried about the ongoing selection process as it can negatively affect the Assembly elections and the presidential poll in December.”

His remarks came a day after Rep. Park Geun-hye, head of the interim leadership committee of the ruling party, said the process was not swayed by any factional groups and is being carried out in a fair and transparent manner.

The Saenuri Party has so far announced more than two-third of its chosen candidates for the 246 electoral districts with some designated to hold primaries for final selection.

Fearing possible unified action by the pro-Lee faction, the Selection Committee postponed the announcement of candidates for remaining constituencies, including districts in southern Seoul and Gyeongsang Province, both considered the long-held home turf of the ruling party.

Analysts say the rare press briefing by the President’s right-hand man aims to pressure Park and the Selection Committee ahead of the additional choices to be revealed this week. They say the further exclusion of lawmakers close to President Lee could lead to a mass desertion of his supporters, which will deal a severe blow to the ruling party ahead of the elections.

Assemblymen loyal to the President regard their non-selection as a retaliatory act by Park. In the party’s previous candidate selections for the 2008 parliamentary elections, the leadership, then led by pro-Lee figures dropped several legislators close to Park from the list.

Following the results, many pro-Park figures left the party running either as independents or joining the Future Hope Alliance (FHA), a party formed by those loyal to the former party chairwoman. The FHA merged with the Saenuri Party last month.

In the press briefing, Rep. Lee denied unified action by the pro-Lee faction but didn’t rule out the possibility that it could happen if the party fails to “select candidates under a fair and transparent system.”

Pro-Lee members such as Reps. Chin Soo-hee, Chun Yu-ok and Shin Ji-ho who have failed to win candidacy in the Saenuri Party’s initial evaluations have been threatening to desert.

Rep. Lee Yoon-sung, a four-term-lawmaker of the Saenuri Party declared Thursday that he would run as an independent, the first pro-Lee lawmaker to leave the party.

Meanwhile, Rep. Lee was selected to run in his current district in northwestern Seoul.