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Trouble came to a head in the ruling Grand National Party on Sunday, with only two days left before candidates must register with the National Election Committee for the April 9 general election. Some GNP candidates asked National Assembly Vice Speaker Lee Sang-deuk, who is President Lee Myung-bak' elder brother, not to run as an MP, and ex-party chairwoman Park Geun-hye accused the party leadership for ¡°unprincipled¡± nomination of candidates.
Some 55 candidates in Seoul metropolitan districts, including Shim Jae-chul, Park Chan-sook, Gong Sung-jin, Yun Kun-young and Cha Myung-jin, in a joint press conference at party headquarters said Vice Speaker Lee should give up his candidacy to take responsibility for souring public sentiment with his ¡°wielding of influence in the party nomination process and in the government nomination of senior officials.¡± They said he should be banned from interfering in all government affairs.
"Although it was inaugurated amid high public expectations less than a month ago, the Lee Myung-bak administration and the GNP have been estranged from public sentiments,¡± they said in a statement. ¡°We demand that Cheong Wa Dae and the party leadership apologize to the people."
The vice speaker, speaking from his constituency in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, rejected the demand, which he said was instigated by a ¡°certain faction¡± within the party. ¡°I'm going to run in the general election as scheduled and wait for the voters to make their own judgment,¡± he vowed.
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Former Grand National Party chairwoman Park Geun-hye speaks at a snap press conference in Seoul on Sunday afternoon.
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Earlier Sunday, Park Geun-hye said, ¡°I was cheated, and so were the people. The party chairman and leadership should take responsibility for the situation." Park, who lost to Lee Myung-bak in the presidential primary, made it clear she will not be campaigning for party candidates across the country. That will make things harder for the party especially in marginal constituencies in the Seoul metropolitan region and Chungcheong provinces.
In a press conference at the National Assembly on Sunday afternoon, Park said, "The party nomination was a foolish process and a significant step backward for Korean party politics. It clearly showed at what level our politics now stands. It also showed that if you fail to win the nomination, you're finished, and that survival in politics depends on knowing where the wind blows rather than on your ability or vision for the country.¡±
But she said throughout all the ¡°deceit and betrayal¡± in the political arena, ¡°you have to maintain respect for at least something. Many people told me that I would be cheated, but I had hoped that the promise¡± of fair nomination ¡°and mutual trust would be honored."
While Park did not mention President Lee by name, she barely concealed her dissatisfaction with him, saying, "Power cannot prevail over justice." "The principle" of power sharing where Lee holds the presidency and Park the party leadership "was not kept," she said, and Lee "knows well how I feel now" toward him. It has taken barely a month for the uneasy truce between the two rivals to start disintegrating.
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Grand National Party chairman Kang Jae-sup announces he will not contest a parliamentary seat, in an urgent press conference at party headquarters in Seoul on Sunday evening.
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Meanwhile, GNP chairman Kang Jae-sup abruptly announced he will not run in the general election. In a press conference held on Sunday evening, he said, "I won't run... Let's stop finding fault with the results of the party nomination but join hands in efforts to help the government." He said not even God¡¯s own hand in the nomination could have prevented dissatisfaction among party members. He pleaded with party members to take his decision as an impetus ¡°to stop the conflict over Vice Speaker Lee's candidacy and factional strife over the nomination.¡±
Kang will reportedly resign from the party chairmanship after the general election. But it is questionable if his decision to pull out of the race can quell conflict among several different pro-Lee Myung-bak groups within the party. Pro-Lee groups have now apparently begun a power game with their demand for Lee Sang-deuk's ouster.
Lawmaker Lee Jae-oh, the de facto leader of the pro-Lee groups, met with President Lee at Cheong Wa Dae on Sunday, would not run for a seat to take responsibility for conflict in the party. Lee Jae-oh¡¯s departure could lead to a redrawing of the party¡¯s power structure after the election.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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