Park to extend olive branch to old foes
By Kim Se-jeong
Na Kyung-won
Lee Jae-oh
Knowing who her contender is for the Dec. 19 election, speculation is growing that Park Geun-hye is poised to reach out to the pro-Lee Myung-bak faction of the Saenuri Party for help, in an effort to make sure all ruling party supporters pick her at the polling station.
Park has been at odds with the pro-Lee faction, especially with former floor leader Rep. Lee Jae-oh, who is one of Park's harshest critics, having blasted her strong rule over the party.
Lee is so close to the President that he is regarded as having huge influence over other figures classified as confidants to Lee Myung-bak, who is suffering from a lame-duck status.
Na Kyung-won, a former ruling party lawmaker and chairwoman of the 2013 PyeongChang Special Olympics Organizing Committee, is currently also basking in the limelight.
Park is now desperate for Lee Jae-oh and Na’s help to beat Moon Jae-in of the opposition Democratic United Party, with whom a neck-and-neck race is anticipated. Park’s campaign office estimates that nearly 10 percent of the Saenuri Party’s registered supporters haven’t opened their “minds” to Park, and anticipates Lee and Na to play a bridging role in winning their support.
It’s early to tell whether Lee will answer Park’s call for help but many are positive that he will eventually do so.
One associate of the pro-Lee Myung-bak faction was quoted as saying by Yonhap that “it’s more than 60 percent that Lee Jae-oh will enter the campaign to help Park. Many around him are persuading him to do so.”
For Park, support from members of the pro-Lee Myung-bak faction is crucial as the upcoming elections will likely be a razor-thin contest.
A lawmaker of the pro-Lee faction said, “There is growing possibility that Rep. Lee will support Park despite their knotty relations in the past. An increasing number of people in and outside the party are calling on him to roll up his sleeves to back Park.”
Observers noted that Lee will campaign for Park at full throttle in the near future as he and President Lee will face a serious setback unless Park wins the presidential election.
Na has kept a low profile after defeat in the Seoul mayoral election last year. But she is expected to wield considerable influence in attracting support in Seoul and its vicinity given that she garnered 46.2 percent votes in the Seoul mayoral vote. For Park, Na’s backing is needed since she has been suffering from low support in the region, lagging Moon by almost 10 percentage points.
Kim Moo-sung, the lawmaker in charge of the ruling party’s election strategies, publicly asked Na for help recently.
“I hope to see Na participate on the campaign trail.”
Na has been lukewarm on the calls for her to participate.
“I have nothing to share right now,” she told Yonhap.
Some 10 percent of voters are not in favor of Park though they back the Saenuri Party. They are widely regarded as supporters of President Lee. Given this, the support from Rep. Lee and Na is essential for Park.
A Saenuri Party official expressed anxiety over the fact that Na is the chairwoman of the PyeongChang Special Olympics, which may prevent her from actively engaging in campaigning for Park in the lead up to the presidential election.