Major Parties to Shake up Election Nominations

The conservative Grand National Party and the liberal United Democratic Party are expected to announce this week a drastic shake-up in their nomination of candidates for the general elections in their stronghold regions.

A Grand National Party source said yesterday, “There will be turmoil from early this week. (At a time when the United Democratic Party is making a dramatic change, the Grand National Party) cannot keep doing nothing.”

The conservative party is said to want candidates who can support the new administration’s pragmatic reforms regardless of faction and the influence of incumbent candidates in the party’s strongholds of the Gyeongsang provinces and the affluent Gangnam district of southern Seoul.

Some members of the conservative party say 30 lawmakers, or half of the party’s incumbents, will be replaced in the Gyeongsang provinces.

Another source said, “[The candidates] need to meet the needs of the public. Appeasement is inappropriate.”

On the rule barring nominations for those who have served prison terms, a member of the liberal party’s screening committee said, “We are trying to remove the mask of the so-called ‘Kim Dae-jung party,’ a curse which lasted for the past 40 years.”

“We can revamp ourselves only when we get rid of the mask. In fact, Grand National Party supporters are showing interest, saying, ‘Oh, something’s going to happen.’”

The liberal party apparently does not want as candidates those who were punished for corruption, including Kim Hong-up, a former lawmaker and the son of former President Kim Dae-jung, and former presidential chief of staff Park Jie-won. The party leadership seems to want a fresh start as a new party without influence of the former president and his people.

swpark@donga.com koh@donga.com