By Kang Hyun-kyung
The ruling Grand National Party (GNP) Monday decided to delay its announcement of a plan to overhaul the party amid criticism over the timing and content from within its camp.
GNP Chairman Rep. Hong Joon-pyo said the debate regarding how to innovate the ruling party has just started and its members will engage in rounds of debate after parliamentary members approve the long-pending free trade deal with the United States.
Hong made the decision public amid worries inside his party that the reform plan could hold back the momentum for the passage of the free trade accord.
The GNP decided to put top priority on passing the trade deal, which is currently seen as an uphill battle due to severe resistance from opposition parties, and then start discussing reform measures in great detail afterwards.
Over the weekend, Hong unveiled the initial plan to innovate the party.
The draft calls for massive layoffs of party strategists working at the GNP headquarters, introducing open competition to select candidates for elections through a vocational representation system and searching for political talent through transparent auditions.
Hong’s draft has sparked resistance from within the ruling party.
Rep. Yoo Seung-min, a GNP supreme council member, said the reform plan fails to meet the expectation of citizens. He urged Hong and the ruling party not to play down the anger of the public which was manifested in the recent Seoul mayoral election and try to come up with measures that can appease them.
GNP lawmaker Rep. Won Hee-ryong said the leadership’s willingness to sacrifice themselves for the sake of the long-term interest of the party is missing in Hong’s draft.
There are also younger radical members who have demanded President Lee Myung-bak apologize for what they call the mismanagement of the nation and his aides’ involvement in bribery cases.
Among the 25 radicals are Reps. Kim Song-sik, Jeong Tae-keun and Gu Sang-chan.
In a statement released Sunday, these legislators claimed that the GNP’s defeat in the Seoul mayoral race in October was the consequence of Lee’s combined mismanagement of the nation.
Jeong delivered the statement to Kim Hyo-jae, senior presidential secretary for political affairs, to hand it to Lee, who reportedly has kept silent on the matter.
In a written statement, the senior presidential secretary said all ruling camp members, including presidential aides, are obligated to think deeply about the solutions to the points made by the 24 lawmakers.
“Cheong Wa Dae will open-mindedly listen to the GNP members’ views,” he said. But Kim expressed regret over the way the 25 lawmakers addressed the issue because it came at a time when the President was out of the country for a summit in Russia and the G20 global gathering in France.
Kim went on to say that now was the time for unity among ruling party members because there are many bread-and-butter issues that need to be addressed in the National Assembly.