Former governing Saenuri Party Chairman Kim Moo-sung has abandoned his ambition to run in the next presidential election and said he will be in the vanguard of impeaching President Park Geun-hye.
In a press conference Wednesday, Rep. Kim, one of key figures behind Park’s election in 2012, vowed to do his utmost to prevent the fall of conservatives, holding himself responsible for the current national crisis triggered by the expanding Choi Soon-sil scandal. On Tuesday, two Saenuri heavyweights, including Gyeonggi Province Governor Nam Kyung-pil, quit the party, lashing out at Park loyalists blindly attempting to protect her.
Given that public support for Kim, a six-term lawmaker, as a presidential hopeful is negligible, his move might not be significant. But considering that the current Saenuri Party leadership has been refusing to resign despite the unprecedented corruption and influence-peddling scandal, his announcement can serve as an occasion to bring changes and innovations to the ruling party.
Kim could be lauded for courageously saying: “President Park betrayed the people and violated the Constitution.” His commitment to sponsoring a motion to impeach the embattled President, in particular, is welcomed, given that it could help the nation escape the ongoing leadership crisis sooner than later.
As Park has shown her strong will to retain power, even in the face of popular sentiment expressed through the weekend candlelit rallies over the past month, pushing for impeachment can be an option to minimize national chaos. So the ruling and opposition parties need to speed up the pace of impeachment, regardless of its outcome.
Kim’s announcement came as the conservative ruling party is teetering on the brink of collapse amid plunging approval ratings. According to an opinion poll conducted by pollster Realmeter, the beleaguered Saenuri Party was overtaken by the minor opposition People’s Party this week for the first time with 16.7 percent vs. 17.9 percent.
This is hardly surprising, considering that the current party leadership led by Lee Jung-hyun has turned a deaf ear to calls for reform despite the scandal that dealt a fatal blow to the first female head of state. There is no denying that the party’s pro-Park lawmakers have left even their supporters at a loss for words with their extremely regressive behavior only intended to shield the President from the unfolding scandal.
It’s long overdue for the Saenuri Party to reinvent itself in the face of a complete fall. Kim and his followers might have to quit the party unless Park loyalists comply with the will of the people.
In this case, they’ll have to devote themselves to creating a new center-right party outside the Saenuri Party that will honor genuine conservative values. By all indications, the collapse of conservatism could do more harm than good.