Park's grip on power to weaken

President Park Geun-hye, wearing red, puts her ballot paper into a box after voting at a polling station near Cheong Wa Dae, Wednesday. Red is the official color of the ruling Saenuri Party. / Yonhap

By Yi Whan-woo

Suh Chung-won

Woo Yoo-chul

The general election will create a new challenge for President Park Geun-hye and her loyalists inside the ruling Saenuri Party.

With the presidential race slated for 2017, the top priority for the pro-Park faction now is to prevent the President from becoming an early lame duck, analysts say.

There is speculation that the Park loyalists may try to reconcile with those estranged from the President over candidate nominations to help her consolidate her grip on power during the remainder of her presidency.

Citing the nomination fiasco in selecting candidates, the experts said a failure to embrace minority faction members would hamper passage of possible reform bills aimed at reviving the economy in line with Park’s efforts.

“We’ve been putting aside the problems concerning the internal rift for the time being in order to focus on the election,” a lawmaker from the pro-Park faction said on condition of anonymity. “It’s now the time to take up where we left off.”

The legislator cited the unsettled internal feud following the nomination process controlled by the Park loyalists.

The lopsided nomination of the pro-Park factional members led to protests from minor factional members led by the party’s chairman Kim Moo-sung and also by independent lawmakers who bolted from the party after they were forced out in their failed nomination bids.

“In this climate, resolving the factional feud will be a first step to help the President regain the support from conservative lawmakers and extend her influence over state affairs,” said Shin Yul, a professor of political science at Myongji University.

Lee Joon-han, a professor of political science at Incheon University, agreed by saying “Creating harmony among the conservatives will be the quickest way for Park to secure her grip on power although I’m skeptical about it.”

Some experts said the Park loyalists may still try to control the party unilaterally while accusing the non-mainstreamers of stirring up internal strife and politically isolating them for some time.

“By doing so, they will attempt to put Park’s adversaries into a corner and make them obedient to avoid further isolation among the conservatives and influence them to consent with the President’s policies,” said Yoon Hee-woong, a senior researcher at Opinion Live.

He cited that Reps. Choi Kyung-hwan and Suh Chung-won, two high-profile loyalists of the President, ruled out the possibility during election campaigns that the party would accept independent lawmakers again after they left.

Meanwhile, Shin said Choi may campaign to be the party’s chairman in July as part of his efforts to secure influence of the pro-Park faction until Park’s term ends in February 2018.

A new party leader will serve his or her term for two years once elected.