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Top officials of the Grand National Party reportedly engaged in a fierce argument at a supreme council meeting on Monday. Triggering the dispute were comments made in a media interview by supreme council member Lee Jae-oh, who is close to presidential candidate Lee Myung-bak. He said there are forces within the GNP who are not willing to recognize Lee as the party¡¯s candidate and that he would not tolerate that.
GNP leader Kang Jae-sup responded by telling Lee not to use such harsh words, since party unity was of utmost importance. Lee shot back by accusing Kang of doing nothing while one person was behaving as if he was going to run for the presidency, while another was taking part in mountain hikes organized by a GNP faction. Lee was referring to Lee Hoi-chang and former GNP leader Park Geun-hye.
After the GNP primary on Aug. 20, Lee and Park pledged to work towards party unity. The public applauded. On Sept. 7, Lee and Park met face to face and pledged to reconcile their differences and cooperate. In retrospect, it's clear the two were just paying lip service.
The two have quarreled over every little thing so far, from the appointment of party members to new positions, electing heads of city and provincial branches to the selection of election committee members. Park¡¯s camp accused Lee of attempting to control the party, while Lee¡¯s camp accused Park of hoping something will go wrong with the plans of the presidential nominee. Park even accused Lee¡¯s camp of discriminating against her supporters. It¡¯s been 71 days since the GNP primary, but it appears as if the brutal mudslinging is still continuing.
We cannot say one side is solely to blame. But Lee is the one who is running for president. His responsibilities must be questioned first. At every opportunity, Lee stressed the need for cohesiveness within the party and touted ¡°unity¡± as a keyword in this presidential election. Lee may have scolded his associates every time they made comments that divided the GNP. But he has not done anything decisive to promote party unity. He even failed to address and embrace those who criticized him and were disappointed by the party¡¯s new appointments.
The public is watching the candidates and weighing whether it would be safe to let them lead the country. The first item on their checklist is tolerance. That¡¯s because the public has grown sick and tired of the divisions created by the Roh Moo-hyun administration. Lee must think about how the public is judging his actions since he took over the GNP.
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