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[Editorial] Unsavory drama
Ruling party’s feud deepens over nominations
By 이현주Published : March 27, 2016 - 17:14
When candidates for the April 13 general election started to register with the National Election Commission on Thursday, many thought that the internecine feud in the ruling Saenuri Party over candidate nomination was over. They were wrong.
The unsavory drama reached its climax that day, as the party’s chairman, Rep. Kim Moo-sung, dropped a bombshell. He announced that he would not put his seal on the nomination papers of five candidates who he said were selected based on seriously biased criteria.
What Kim meant by the announcement was that he would block the five candidates from running in the coming election, given that a nomination paper without the seal of a party chairman on it is invalid.
Kim was revolting against the party’s candidate nomination committee, which he said went out of its way to deny the party’s nomination to many qualified candidates who were not part of the same faction.
One such candidate was Rep. Yoo Seong-min, the former floor leader who had to step down from the post last year after losing favor with President Park Geun-hye.
One motivation for Kim’s revolt was Yoo’s departure from the party. The committee came under fire for using negative tactics to force him to leave the party and run as an independent.
Kim’s unexpected move embarrassed the nomination committee, as the five candidates targeted by the party chief were all “true loyalists” to Park.
The drama ended anticlimactically Friday, hours before the deadline for candidate registration. Kim reached a compromise with the pro-Park leaders on the Supreme Council, stopping the feud from getting out of control.
Kim’s revolt ended up as a half-success. He denied the party’s nomination to three of the five candidates.
He justified his action, saying that it redressed, at least partially, the nomination panel’s unprincipled and undemocratic vetting processes.
Yet there is a flip side to his action. He infringed upon the three candidates’ political rights by depriving them of a chance to run in the election, even as independents.
Under the election law, a party member is required to leave their party before candidate registration starts, if they want to stand as an independent. The three candidates had no chance to quit the party as Kim dropped his bombshell after the deadline. The three victims could take legal action against Kim for violating their electoral rights.
All this fuss resulted from the nomination committee’s failure to pick candidates in a fair and transparent manner. The party will have to pay the price for its disregard for intraparty democracy.
The unsavory drama reached its climax that day, as the party’s chairman, Rep. Kim Moo-sung, dropped a bombshell. He announced that he would not put his seal on the nomination papers of five candidates who he said were selected based on seriously biased criteria.
What Kim meant by the announcement was that he would block the five candidates from running in the coming election, given that a nomination paper without the seal of a party chairman on it is invalid.
Kim was revolting against the party’s candidate nomination committee, which he said went out of its way to deny the party’s nomination to many qualified candidates who were not part of the same faction.
One such candidate was Rep. Yoo Seong-min, the former floor leader who had to step down from the post last year after losing favor with President Park Geun-hye.
One motivation for Kim’s revolt was Yoo’s departure from the party. The committee came under fire for using negative tactics to force him to leave the party and run as an independent.
Kim’s unexpected move embarrassed the nomination committee, as the five candidates targeted by the party chief were all “true loyalists” to Park.
The drama ended anticlimactically Friday, hours before the deadline for candidate registration. Kim reached a compromise with the pro-Park leaders on the Supreme Council, stopping the feud from getting out of control.
Kim’s revolt ended up as a half-success. He denied the party’s nomination to three of the five candidates.
He justified his action, saying that it redressed, at least partially, the nomination panel’s unprincipled and undemocratic vetting processes.
Yet there is a flip side to his action. He infringed upon the three candidates’ political rights by depriving them of a chance to run in the election, even as independents.
Under the election law, a party member is required to leave their party before candidate registration starts, if they want to stand as an independent. The three candidates had no chance to quit the party as Kim dropped his bombshell after the deadline. The three victims could take legal action against Kim for violating their electoral rights.
All this fuss resulted from the nomination committee’s failure to pick candidates in a fair and transparent manner. The party will have to pay the price for its disregard for intraparty democracy.
