More than 30 ruling party lawmakers have vowed to quit their embattled party next week to create a new conservative party. This marks the first time in the nation’s political history that a major conservative party will split.
The exiting group could form the third-largest party if more lawmakers leave the governing Saenuri Party after United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who announced his de facto presidential bid, returns home in mid-January.
The split of the Saenuri Party comes as its factional feud reached a climax in the ruling camp following the parliamentary impeachment of President Park Geun-hye. There is no doubt that Park and her loyalists should assume the lion’s share of responsibility for this latest political turbulence. But the exiting anti-Park lawmakers are not free from criticism, considering that they have overlooked irregularities in the governing bloc, content with their vested interests.
Park’s impeachment is a decisive factor in prompting the anti-Park faction to leave the party, but the split should have come earlier given the intensifying do-or-die factional conflict since the April 13 general election.
“We decided to part from the fake conservatives and agreed to pursue new ways by establishing true conservative politics,” said Rep. Hwang Young-cheul, spokesman for the anti-Park faction. Strictly speaking, however, their leaving the party is nothing more than a desperate attempt to survive in the run-up to the next presidential election at a time when Park loyalists are taking over the party.
This means that the anti-Park lawmakers won’t receive an indulgence merely by leaving the party. As part of the ruling camp, they should own up to their culpability in the Choi Soon-sil scandal and search their soul deeply.
To be sure, the nation’s political conservatives are facing one of the gravest crises amid the exploding corruption and influence-peddling scandal. To win back the hearts and minds of former ruling party supporters who have been alienated by the bizarre scandal, the exiting group must present viable measures to operate the party in a democratic way, shying away from the factionalism entrenched in most parties. It’s long overdue for the conservatives to turn over a new leaf through excruciating self-examination and innovation.