By Lee Tae-hoon
Staff reporter
Amid intensifying mudslinging among the 11 candidates, the governing Grand National Party (GNP) will hold a national convention in a gymnasium in Southern Seoul today to elect five decision-making Supreme Council members, including the chairman.
"Regretfully, there have been incidents that give the public the impression that the national convention has turned into a dog fight," Rep. Kim Moo-sung, interim leader of the party, said Tuesday, on the eve of the leadership race, urging the candidates to stop negative campaigning.
Slandering of rival candidates, however, continued as they made last-ditch efforts to woo voters.
The biggest target of attack has been Rep. Ahn Sang-soo, former floor leader of the party, who has been accused of dodging mandatory military duty and blindly following the instructions of the presidential office.
"The GNP will be labeled as a military-dodgers' party, if someone who was on the run for 10 years and exempted from the honorable duty due to old age is elected as the party's leader," Ahn's archrival Hong Joon-pyo said.
On Monday, Hong made Ahn's military records public stating that Ahn refused to join the military for more than 10 years until he reached 30, the age limit after which conscripts are no longer obliged to serve compulsory military duty.
The age limit has been raised to 36, following the passage of a revised bill submitted by Hong in 2009.
Hong and Ahn, both four-term lawmakers and former prosecutors, are reportedly leading the race, followed by two-term lawmaker Chung Doo-un.
Rep. Kim Sung-sik, a reform-minded candidate, has also been vocal about Ahn's military dodging.
"If Ahn becomes the new chairman of the party, it will add a great burden to the administration, which is seeking a breakthrough after the crushing defeat in the June 2 local elections," Kim said.
The candidate who secures the most votes will become the new GNP chairman for the next two years, a crucial time for the conservative party which is reeling from a humiliating defeat in the local elections to regain popularity for the 2012 National Assembly elections and presidential poll.
If no female candidate places in the top five in the election, the one who garners the most votes will automatically become a Supreme Council member as party regulations stipulate that at least one of the five Supreme Council members must be a woman.
Na Kyung-won is currently the strongest female candidate running in the race and is likely to win a seat.