Intra-party Feud Continues over GNP Candidate Nomination Process

The Grand National Party, swept by an internal feud over whether to disqualify figures implicated in corruption and irregularities from applying for the party’s candidate nomination, on Thursday decided to accept those applications on a case-by-case basis.

However, former GNP Chairwoman Park Geun-hye rejected the decision saying, “Nothing has changed. (The decision) cannot solve the fundamental problem unless the party’s constitution is amended.”

○ The Nomination Screening Committee: “We will accept applications, but….”

“The committee has decided to review a group of applicants who are deemed to have irregularities in meeting the requirements for nomination on a case-by-case basis, in accordance with Article 3, Section 2 of the public official nomination regulations,” Jeong Jong-bok, a senior member of the committee told the press immediately after the committee’s meeting on Thursday.

This is a rather flexible decision as the committee announced on Tuesday that it would prohibit any candidate involved in corruption and irregularities from submitting a nomination application. The new ruling will allow GNP Supreme Council member Kim Moo-seong and other figures close to Park who were on the verge of being left out of the nomination file an application, though it will be a provisional one.

The GNP Supreme Council, which convened an emergency meeting earlier in the day, requested the nomination committee ban only those who had a prison record from filing a nomination application and to review applications individually to find out whether they met the requirements. “The nomination committee consulted the opinions of the Supreme Council,” Jeong said.

However, Kim and other party members will likely fail to win the nomination as the committee has decided to follow the party’s current rules when finalizing its decision on candidate qualifications.

According to sources, Ahn Kang-min, chairman of the committee, said right after a meeting on Thursday that it would be difficult to resolve the problem without revising the party’s constitution as it clearly forbids those involved in corruption and irregularities from submitting a nomination application.

“The nomination committee is blocked by the party’s constitution. A decision has to be made over whether the Supreme Council will revise the constitution or ban (some candidates) from submitting applications in accordance with the current constitution,” said a member of the nomination committee in a telephone interview.

Former GNP leader Park had high hopes for the nomination committee’s meeting. She expected to have a solution because the party’s supreme members jointly called for flexibility in the party regulations.

However, Park seems to be at a loss with the committee’s decision as it falls short of her expectations.

“After receiving the applications, it’s possible that the committee may exclude them from nomination based on the party’s constitution. The nomination committee’s decision is ambiguous,” said a lawmaker close to Park.

Meanwhile, lawmakers close to Park gathered at the National Assembly Library again on Thursday to pledge a united front. Some of them pointed out that the current situation does not give sufficient cause for them to bolt from the party.

GNP Chairman Kang Jae-seop, according to sources, expressed frustration to his close aides and refused to carry out party duties in order to protest the committee’s decision on Tuesday. Kang reportedly stayed somewhere in Seoul to find a solution to the crisis, to include the revision of the party’s constitution.

○ Resistance from Young Lawmakers and Party Officials

Young lawmakers and low-level party officials of the GNP are raising their voices against the committee’s decision.

One party official said, “How wretched will the party look if it bails out certain people whenever it pleases at the cost of breaching the party’s constitution.” The official added, “I’m frustrated because I can’t even openly criticize it as I might be accused of undermining the party’s unity.”

A second-term lawmaker from the Seoul metropolitan area criticized Park, saying, “(She) said that the committee should nominate candidates in a transparent and objective manner. How could she throw away the party’s constitution like an old pair of shoes, while saying ‘faith is important in politics’?”

Regarding the potential revision of the party’s regulations, a director-level official in the party said, “While disregarding the will of the people, she is attempting to change the law to hire associates, a practice worse than creating posts just to hire people.” The party official added, “That’s why the party is accused of being a ‘wellbeing party.’”

“Some party executives pointed out that clauses in the party’s constitution are too unpractical before it was passed last September. However, party leaders strongly pushed them, saying the party needs a complete overhaul to change the government,” said a first-time lawmaker. “If we revise the constitution again, the party can face a serious crisis.”

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