By Jun Ji-hye
The ruling Saenuri Party decided Thursday to conduct a public opinion survey before selecting a final candidate to run for Jeju governor in the June 4 local elections.
Its decision has triggered objections from sitting Mayor Woo Keun-min and several other hopefuls.
In other regions, the party plans to hold primaries to choose a final candidate through a combination of methods including votes from party delegates and selected members of the public.
But it decided to conduct opinion polls only for the Jeju gubernatorial election, claiming that the region doesn’t reflect the views of most party members.
The poll was requested by former Saenuri Party lawmaker Won Hee-ryong, while Woo demanded a combination of methods to select a candidate. The latter is seeking to be reelected.
Following the governing party’s decision in favor of the former lawmaker, Won plans to announce his official bid for the gubernatorial election Sunday. He believes that the opinion survey method will work favorably for him because he has taken the lead against the mayor in recent surveys.
However, the decision is expected to generate fierce complaints from Woo, who might leave the party.
“It is just absurd to change the primary rules to suit one certain person,” said Woo at a press briefing.
Elected in 2010 as an independent candidate, Woo joined the Saenuri Party in November, bringing along 10,000 followers. Woo expected that those people would support him in the primary ahead of the June election.
Now, Woo has three choices ― accept the party’s decision, leave the party to run for reelection as an independent candidate or give up his candidacy.
Political observers say it is unlikely he will accept the opinion poll rule because he already knows that he is falling behind the former lawmaker.
Given that he has been working hard to prepare for the June poll, he is unlikely to abandon his bid.
However, leaving the party could place him in a difficult position as well, because he has already switched from the ruling party to the opposition party. He has joined the Saenuri Party twice so far, and the main opposition Democratic Party three times.
In addition, controversy surrounding his history of sexually harassing a female aide still haunts him.
After the Ministry of Gender Equality concluded that he had “inappropriate physical contact” with the female aide, a form of sexual harassment in 2002, Woo filed administrative litigation calling for the ministry to reverse its decision. But the Supreme Court ultimately upheld the ministry’s decision in 2006.
From the ruling party’s point of view, Woo’s possible defection and his independent bid is a burden because it could split conservative voters, which could result in a victory for the opposition bloc.