The top political parties were dealing with internal election bribery allegations with the April 11 general elections just three months away and the left-wing’s leadership race days ahead.

The ruling Grand National Party effectively disowned its former leader and current parliamentary speaker Rep. Park Hee-tae over the scandal and pledged to continue its renewal campaign, but faced a continued backlash from both party reformers and opposition groups.

The main opposition Democratic Unified Party, which on Sunday is to hold its first leadership election, faced internal resistance, especially from the civic group-based candidates.

While authorities continued their probe over the charges against the parliamentary speaker, leveled by the GNP’s Rep. Koh Seung-duk, both parties made their own efforts to shake off the allegations.

“Should the prosecution detect electoral irregularities in any of the party members, we shall not avoid our responsibility and take due measures,” said GNP floor leader Rep. Hwang Woo-yea on Tuesday.

The party also urged the prosecution to look into vote-buying suspicions in the 2010 chairman vote in which Rep. Ahn Sang-soo was elected over his rival Hong Joon-pyo.

The DUP kicked off late on Monday its own probe committee to clarify whether a chairperson candidate offered bribes to party members prior to the preliminary race in December.

“Should anyone turn out to have committed such irregularities, the corresponding candidate will be eliminated from the list and handed over to authorities for legal procedures,” said the party’s spokesperson, quoting the decision of the interim Supreme Council.

The determined measures of the parties were further triggered by the general sense that public support could shift further to unaligned political rookies such as professor Ahn Cheol-soo and Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon.

Though Ahn has not announced his intention to enter politics, he is considered a top liberal hopeful in this year’s presidential election.

While struggling to defend themselves from the escalating bribery scandals, the GNP and the DUP also were embroiled in internal feuding over countermeasures.

“Speaker Park has been politically and morally disgraced, regardless of the prosecutorial probe results,” said Lee Sang-don, leading member of the GNP’s emergency leadership council in a radio interview on Tuesday.

Lee thus suggested that Park be excluded from the party’s nomination for the upcoming general election.

Though currently not affiliated with the GNP due to his parliamentary speaker position, the sixth-term lawmaker was expected to resume his party membership this year.

The council, led by presidential hopeful Rep. Park Geun-hye, also pledged to reshuffle if necessary, causing speculation that pro-Lee Myung-bak figures may be cast aside.

On Sunday, top pro-Lee members such as former leaders Hong Joon-pyo and Chung Mong-joon, along with Gyeonggi Gov. Kim Moon-soo, requested the resignation of some council members, including Lee and Kim Chong-in.

Though they cited their lack of qualifications, the move is largely seen as defense against the pro-Park council.

In the DUP, tension was observed between members of the former Democratic Party and those from the civic group-based Citizen Integration Party as the bribery allegations mostly targeted former DP figures.

Lee Yong-seon, joint chairman of the DUP and former chairman of the CIP, claimed that all candidates should be eliminated from the list should they be in any way involved in the scandal.

Leading former DP members, on the other hand, rejected the charges against them.

“Being one of the chairperson candidates, I am aware that I, too, am subject to the probe,” said Rep. Park Jie-won, former DP floor leader.

“I have, however, never been involved in such irregularities and hope that the party reveals the truth over the suspicions.”

Some also expressed concerns that the investigation may put a dampener on the voters’ heated responses to the imminent leadership election.

More than 640,000 citizens registered themselves as non-party voters last week, constituting the largest electoral pool ever observed in an in-party vote.

By Bae Hyun-jung (tellme@heraldcorp.com)