By Chung Min-uk
Ruling Grand National Party (GNP) Chairman Hong Joon-pyo said Thursday that his party will take steps to completely rebuild itself ahead of the parliamentary elections in April.
“We will disband the current party and create a totally new party system including name and platform,” said Hong during a press conference at GNP headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul.
The GNP leader said he will carry out bold and revolutionary change based on self-sacrifice in the lead up to the general elections to pick lawmakers.
“In the process of selection of candidates for the elections, all current GNP lawmakers may not be retained to ensure the participation of the younger generation and less privileged people,” he said.
Hong’s statement came amid a deepening sense of crisis in the ruling party since its defeat in the Seoul mayoral by-election, and the recent cyber attack on the National Election Commission’s (NEC) website organized by an aide to one of its lawmakers.
He indicated the possibility that former GNP Chairwoman Park Geun-hye will lead the party ahead of the crucial elections next year.
“The party could revise its regulations to allow presidential hopefuls to take up party posts,” he said.
The chairman also said the GNP will launch a task force aimed at changing the party’s policy direction to facilitate recruiting people from outside.
Concerning the projected reforms, Hong said, “The committee members will be made up of people from inside and outside the party.”
The GNP has been seeking to shed its image of favoring the rich and conservatives only, since its defeat in the mayoral election where many of those in their 20s and 30s supported the unified opposition candidate Park Won-soon.
Hong reiterated his stance that he would not resign until the party manages to settle its current difficulties.
“I am leader of the ruling party and was selected by over 200,000 party members. I am not trying to secure my position. The party will plunge into further turmoil if I resign without any alternative.”
Meanwhile, reform-minded GNP lawmakers urged former party Chairwoman Park to take the reins of the party to replace Hong.
“The current leadership has its limits in resolving the crisis. The party should be run by an emergency committee and we demand Hong step down,” said members of Minbon 21, a group of first-term lawmakers, in a press conference held at the National Assembly.
“Furthermore, Park should be at the center of managing the emergency committee,” they said.
The reformists also claimed that the leadership has to give up its vested interests in order to transform the conservative GNP into a center-right party.
“We declare that if the party’s reforms and changes don’t follow the direction that citizens wish for, we will have to make an extreme decision,” said the Minbon 21 members.
Hong’s leadership, launched at the July party convention, began to face a crisis with the resignation of members of the party’s Supreme Council Wednesday.
The hacking scandal involving GNP officials triggered the resignations. Hong refused to follow suit after winning a confidence vote Thursday where the majority agreed on party reform under the current leadership.
Observers speculate the ongoing situation may force Hong to resign.
“The fact that Hong is trying to stick to his position is in itself an obsession,” said Rep. Won Hee-ryong, one of the Supreme Council members who resigned.