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Presidential hopeful Sohn Hak-kyu, the former governor of Gyeonggi Province who trails behind two leading candidates of the Grand National Party (GNP), announced on Monday that he will leave the party and form a new political group. He also hinted that he could run as the presidential candidate of that new party. He said he was leaving the GNP since it represented conservatism and the remnants of past military dictatorships. But in 1993, it was Sohn himself who applied for membership into the New Korea Party, which was the predecessor of the GNP.
Sohn spent 14 years as a GNP member, serving as a lawmaker, minister and governor. He then stepped forward to run for the presidency as a representative of the party. When the GNP was undergoing an identity crisis, Sohn said, ¡°I am what the GNP represents.¡± Sohn recently sought a change in regulations governing the party¡¯s primary. The finalized rules were close to what Sohn had asked for: holding a primary in August with some 200,000 party members participating. Yet he still chose to leave the party.
There is almost no chance that Sohn will pull himself ahead of the lead held by Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hae. That¡¯s why he is seeking to establish his own beachhead toward the presidency outside of the party. It is true that within the GNP, supporters of Lee and Park compose the two halves of the party and Sohn¡¯s supporters are the minority. And the votes cast in the primary will be divided along that pattern as well.
People who knew this circumstance watched with skepticism when Sohn denied questions over his faltering party allegiance with answers like, ¡°Ask someone else,¡± or ¡°I¡¯ve never ventured beyond my set boundaries,¡± or ¡°I¡¯m not some brick you can stick on any wall.¡±
Others felt Sohn was original and loyal and hoped he would stay that way. Sohn¡¯s departure and plans to form a new political party left these people feeling betrayed. Sohn¡¯s turnabout may have bypassed party regulations prohibiting its candidates defeated in the primary from running for the presidency by leaving the party. But for those who had high hopes for the underdog, who was willing to brave tough conditions to stick to the principle, his departure will be viewed in much the same light.
Sohn¡¯s departure will change the presidential race, and make it more difficult to predict. It has become harder for voters to decide who to support.
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