Ruling Saenuri Party splits over impeached president Park
SEOUL: Twenty-nine South Korean ruling party lawmakers, who have distanced themselves from disgraced President Park Geun-hye, declared their departure yesterday from the Saenuri Party to form a new political group.
“The New Conservative Party for Reform raises the anchor of hope to become a centripetal point for real conservative forces and carry out orderly and stable reforms,” Chung Byung-kook, one of the lawmakers, said, referring to the tentative name for the new party that will be officially launched on Jan 24.
He criticised the ruling party and lawmakers closely affiliated with the president for “having forgotten values for real conservatism and lost the people’s trust”.
The development came after Ms Park, whose five-year single term ends in February 2018, fell into disgrace after being impeached by parliament earlier this month over an influence-peddling scandal revolving around the president and her confidante Choi Soon-sil.
The Constitutional Court has to make deliberations on the impeachment and deliver a verdict within 180 days.
“The path we take will become the only way to turn the presidential impeachment, which is an unhappy thing for the nation, into a momentum for the development of democracy and renovate the nation,” Mr Chung said.
Among the lawmakers quitting the ruling party were Yoo Seong-min and Kim Moosung, the former floor leader and the former chief of the Saenuri Party, respectively.
The group’s departure will shrink the number of the ruling party’s 128 seats in the 300-member legislature to below 100, and less than the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea’s 121 seats. The second-largest opposition People’s Party has 38 seats.
Even with the reduced number of seats, however, Saenuri retains the status as the ruling party as long as President Park remains affiliated with the party.
Media reports said some of t he remaining ruling party lawmakers are also likely to quit and join the new conservative party.
The Saenuri Party has been embroiled in a bitter power struggle since the explosive scandal erupted in late October, with its lawmakers split between a group loyal to the president and an anti-Park group.
The lawmakers who quit the ruling party are believed to have voted for the presidential impeachment motion, which was overwhelmingly passed at the parliament on Dec 9.
In South Korea’s parliament, a party must have more than 20 lawmakers to establish a separate negotiation body.
The country’s political parties are gearing up for the presidential election scheduled for December next year to elect Ms Park’s successor.
Yoo Seong-min, former floor leader and one of those who left the ruling party, indicated his intent to run in the next presidential election.
“Now, I will think over what I have been preparing for and I will unveil my determination on the presidential election in the
near future,” Mr Yoo told the SBS television programme last week.
As for the prospects of the outgoing UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon joining the new party and becoming a presidential candidate, Mr Yoo said the new party would welcome Mr Ban. Mr Yoo said, however, Mr Ban would undergo an “intense verification process” in the party along with other presidential candidates.
In his final speech as UN chief earlier this month, 72-year-old Mr Ban hinted at his next ambition, saying that he would return to South Korea in 2017, after his second five-year term in New York is concluded, and would “consider seriously” how he might best serve his country.
Mr Ban, who has gained high popularity in the central Chungcheong region where he was born, is one of the leading presidential hopefuls in various polls.
The election will be held earlier if the Constitutional Court approves the presidential impeachment, in which case it must be held within 60 days of the court’s decision.
The influence-peddling scandal revolves around Ms Park’s longtime friend Ms Choi, a civilian who was indicted on charges of meddling in key state affairs and using her ties with Ms Park for financial gains.
Ms Park was also labelled by state prosecutors as a co-conspirator in various criminal charges brought against Ms Choi and two of Ms Park’s former secretaries, becoming the first president in South Korean history to face a criminal investigation as a primary suspect.