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Grand National Party Representative Lee Sang-deuk, the elder brother of President Lee Myung-bak, has rejected calls from within the party to give up his bid for a parliamentary seat. Fifty-five GNP candidates asked him not to run in the general elections on April 9. Lee who serves as the deputy National Assembly speaker, on Monday said he will register his candidacy Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the influential GNP lawmaker Lee Jae-oh, who has reportedly been weighing his political future and considered quitting politics in a bid to resolve infighting in the party, has yet to make a final decision on whether to run in the upcoming elections. Party harmony could depend on whether either or both Lee¡¯s will register.
Some lawmakers representing North Gyeongsang Province collected signatures against the ouster of the vice National Assembly speaker on Monday. But lawmaker Nam Kyung-pil took issue with a number of people close to the elder Lee who work as presidential aides. Nam was the first person to call on the elder Lee to give up on reelection. He said on a radio program he was ¡°concerned that some people at Cheong Wa Dae are deafening and blinding¡± President Lee, trading on the name of his elder brother and intervening in what Nam called the ¡°wrong¡± personnel decisions.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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