Factional strife within political parties usually reaches its peak ahead of general elections as each faction strives to get as many nomination tickets as possible. We expected the same for the April 13 election, but the infighting inside the parties — especially the ruling Saenuri Party — is really disappointing.
Since the nomination process entered full swing, the party did not spend a single day without encountering disputes, accusations, controversies and rumors, with its two factions — one of which is close to President Park Geun-hye and the other which is not — engaged in a battle to gain the upper hand.
Party leader Kim Moo-sung, who heads the “non-Parks,” touched off the first of the seemingly endless wars of words between the two groups. Kim’s comment that he was given the list of about 40 non-Park lawmakers to be denied nomination by a key pro-Park politician — regardless of its authenticity — showed how deep the internal strife is and how dirty the infighting could be.
There were more cases that show politicians could be as deliberate and astute as con men or fraudsters: The results of in-house opinion surveys of candidates for the party’s nomination races were made public — with some data rigged. Then a key member of the pro-Park faction, talking with someone on the phone, said a man like Kim should be removed — he actually used the word “kill,” and effectively called the party leader “a son of bitch.” Somebody recorded the conversation, which was then relayed by a television channel. It looks like a spy operation.
As the already deep conflict between pro-Parks and non-Parks escalates and is further charged by emotions, the work of the nomination panel once went into rough sailing as members close to Kim confronted panel chief Lee Han-koo, a pro-Park member, over the panel’s operations.
All this internal fighting within the ruling party is related to the two major factions’ endeavors to get as many of its members elected to the parliament as possible to gain the upper hand for the next presidential election. The party also may still believe that the division in the opposition parties could give it an easy win in the upcoming election.
But many voters are fed up with the sickening intraparty conflict. Indeed, the ruling party is not as bold as the major opposition party in defenestrating veteran lawmakers and bringing in new blood.
The party’s publicity chief, a copywriter by trade, once put up a self-warning phrase on a wall of the head office, which said the party could be blown away in a moment unless it comes to its senses. Few Saenuri members seem to be heeding the warning.
