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Simmering conflict within the Grand National Party finally came to the boil on Wednesday, as the party was preparing to nominate candidates for the April 9 general election from Gyeongsang provincial constituencies.
In a press conference at the National Assembly, former party chairwoman Park Geun-hye said, "It seems to me that the nomination process is going very badly.¡± The leader of the second most powerful party faction, Park warned, ¡°If we participate in the general election based on this kind of nomination process, the GNP will remain in trouble and find it hard to be reconciled."
The press conference was prompted by an earlier report on ¡°CBS-No Cut News¡± that party secretary-general Lee Bang-ho, a loyalist of President Lee Myung-bak, and a key member of Park's faction had agreed to replace up to 50 percent of the incumbent Gyeongsang lawmakers.
"I can't suppress my anger" at such dirty tactics, Park said. "Secretary-general Lee should name the key member of my faction or I am going to make sure that the man's identity is revealed." She stressed the need to hold Lee Bang-ho responsible for the incident, saying, "I believe that someone has to take the blame for this terrible situation."
Park said while wishing the party good luck, she had ¡°just been watching so far how the party committee selects nominees for the general election, because the president himself has promised to conduct the selection based on fair standards. But it is a lack of respect for party members who went through some hardship during the election campaign to make the transfer of power happen to continue this messy process." Park, who lost to Lee Myung-bak in the presidential primary, said she feared her trust in the president ¡°may be broken."
Park did not rule out taking drastic action, depending on the results of the party's nomination of candidates in Gyeongsang.
Lee Bang-ho at a separate press conference later the same day denied the report. "Rumors are circulating that I've discussed the nomination process with Cheong Wa Dae officials and notified a key member of former chairwoman Park of results of my discussion with those officials,¡± he said. ¡°That¡¯s complete nonsense. I've neither met any member¡± of Park¡¯s faction, ¡°nor discussed anything with him or her."
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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