Election will test President's grip on power

Former Government Administration and Home Affairs Minister Chong Jong-sup, right, and other Saenuri Party candidates join a crtiticism against independent candidates who abandoned the Saenuri Party for the general election on April 13 during a joint campaign in Daegu, Thursday. / Yonhap

Nomination fiasco expected to negatively affect Saenuri Party in April 13 polls

By Yi Whan-woo

President Park Geun-hye faces challenges in her apparent bid to extend her influence over state affairs after her Presidential term, with a tougher-than-expected race confronting the ruling Saenuri Party in the April 13 general election.

Analysts said last week that they believe the President was behind the Saenuri Party’s lopsided nomination of her loyalists as its electoral candidates while forcing those estranged by Park to leave the party.

Up to 60 percent of the party’s electoral candidates are considered mainstream pro-Park factional members.

The party’s strategy was to push the Park loyalists to dominate the National Assembly following the April election, to help her avoid lame-duck status and ensure Park’s control over selecting her successor in the 2017 presidential election.

The strategy, however, backfired as public sentiment against the party has grown in the wake of its factional strife. And it remains uncertain whether the party can increase its majority of the 300 parliamentary seats up for grabs, according to experts.

From left, three former ruling Saenuri Party members — Reps. Yoo Sung-kull, Yoo Seong-min and Kwon Eun-hee — hold a press conference during their joint campaign as independent candidates for the April 13 general election in Daegu, Sunday. / Yonhap

“I don’t think people find it uncomfortable for presidents to capitalize on parliamentary elections as a chance to solidify their post-presidency status,” said Lee Joon-han, a political professor at Incheon University. “But it’s important for presidents to make sure they are not wielding their power excessively as if they were monarchs. In this climate, Park obviously crossed the line.”

Shin Yul, a political professor at Myongji University, speculated that the factional strife is forcing a growing number of Saenuri Party supporters to break away.

Shin cited that the Saenuri Party’s approval rating nationwide fell for two straight weeks, hitting 37 percent on the fifth and last week of March in a survey released by Gallup Korea, Friday. The rating stood at 41 percent in the third week of the month and then dropped by 2 percentage points the next week.

The party especially suffered an 8-percentage-point fall to 32 percent in Seoul between March 22 and March 31. During the same time period, its approval rating in Incheon and Gyeonggi Province combined dropped by 3 percentage points to 33 percent.

Collectively known as the Seoul Capital Area, Seoul, Incheon, and Gyeonggi Province make up the country’s most populous region.

“I’m so concerned that our supporters may turn their backs on us after being disappointed by recent mistakes we’ve made,” Saenuri Party Chairman Rep. Kim Moo-sung said on the campaign trail for Saenuri candidates in Gyeonggi Province, Saturday. “We initially planned to secure 180 parliamentary seats and now I’m not even sure whether we can occupy half of the 300 seats.”

“The fall of the party’s approval rating is attributed to the President’s involvement in the nomination process and the party’s internal rift,” said Bae Jong-chan, the chief director of political pollster Research and Research.

“The 180-seat goal will be unrealistic unless both the Saenuri Party and the President’s approval ratings rise above 50 percent.”

Choi Chang-ryul, a political professor at Yongin University, echoed a similar view.

“Some may have been disappointed by the President while some others may be displeased with Kim Moo-sung,” he said.

The Saenuri Party chairman is a non-mainstream lawmaker. He opposed the nomination committee’s plans and discouraged it from fielding Park’s loyalists as candidates in three contentious districts.

Two of them include Daegu Dong B where the party’s former floor leader Rep. Yoo Seong-min is running as an independent candidate and Seoul Eunpyeong B where Rep. Lee Jae-oh, also a former Saenuri Party member, is also seeking reelection as an independent.

They both quit the Saenuri Party after failing to win electoral nominations.

“The party will need to retrieve approval from its longtime supporters this week to win in this election,” said Yoon Hee-woong, a senior researcher at Opinion Live.

Lee Chung-hee, a politics professor at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, urged the Saenuri Party to resolve the internal strife, saying “Touting the number of seats they want to win in elections doesn’t look good.”

Some party officials said the mainstream and minority factions are on a “political ceasefire” and their strife will resume immediately after the election.

They pointed out that Kim Moo-sung vowed to step down from his chairmanship post right after the election although his two-year term is set to expire in July.

“Both factional members will blame each other if the party fails to win 150 seats and also they will try to have their members run for the chairmanship,” said Hwang Tae-soon, a political commentator.

He speculated former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Strategy and Finance Choi Kyung-hwan could run for the party’s leadership for the pro-Park faction. He is making a parliamentary bid in Gyeongsan, North Gyeongsang Province.