Lawmakers of the ruling Saenuri Party appeared headed toward a clash Friday over a demand to revise the presidential primary rules, with those close to leading hopeful Park Geun-hye insisting on no change and her rivals suggesting boycotting the race en masse.
The row is expected to be a top topic at a two-day lawmakers' workshop opening Friday.
Minor contenders, such as Gyeonggi Province Governor Kim Moon-soo and Reps. Chung Mong-joon and Lee Jae-oh, have warned they could quit the race collectively if the party sticks with the existing rules seen as favorable to former party chief Park.
Under the current rules, the party's presidential candidate is determined based on a combination of votes, roughly half from party members and the other half from ordinary citizens. Minor contenders have called for determining the winner based entirely on votes from ordinary citizens.
The three have demanded the party establish a primary preparatory committee first to discuss rule changes before launching a full-fledged election committee. On Wednesday, however, the party's secretary-general turned down the demand, saying there is not enough time for a preparatory committee.
The party plans to launch a full election committee next week.
Aides to the three minor candidates held a late-night meeting Thursday to discuss next steps. The sides are expected to issue a joint statement later Friday to denounce the party's largest faction of Park loyalists. All of the party's top party post holders are considered "pro-Park" members.
"The non-Park contenders are expected to hold a meeting around Sunday and issue a strong warning to the party's leadership," an official close to one of the three said, adding the three could suggest the possibility of a collective boycott of the primary.
Rep. Lee accused the pro-Park faction of taking the party in the wrong direction.
"They are trying to hold an easy primary," Lee said. "If they do this, would they be able to win the minds of the people in the main race?"
Park and other members close to her have been negative about changing the primary regulations, saying it makes no sense to "adjust game rules to athletes" and that the "athletes" should adjust to the game rules.
Park consolidated her standing as a leading presidential hopeful of the party after rebuilding the once-beleaguered party with sweeping reform measures and leading it to a widely unexpected victory in the April general elections. (Yonhap)