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The ruling Saenuri Party has begun to collect views on the open primary system demanded by some of the party’s presidential hopefuls facing an uphill battle against frontrunner Rep. Park Geun-hye.
Rep. Hwang Woo-yea, who was elected the new Saenuri chairperson on Wednesday last week, met with Rep. Chung Mong-joon over the weekend to discuss the nomination process.
The party currently picks a presidential candidate through a combination of an electoral college and preliminary opinion polls. The votes by the electoral college, including party delegates, rank-and-file members and citizens, make up 80 percent of the total result while opinion polls make up 20 percent.
While former chairwoman Park Geun-hye reportedly stands by the current system, her rivals including Chung, former Gyeonggi Governor Kim Moon-soo and Rep. Lee Jae-oh demand the party adopt a fully-open primary, where ordinary citizens hold all the votes, regardless of party affiliation.
“I met with chairman Hwang (on Saturday) and told him he has a great responsibility to manage a fair primary,” Chung said in a press conference on Sunday at the party’s headquarters in Yeouido.
“The party leadership must speed up the formation of the primary management committee and a monitoring committee comprised of fair and neutral members,” Chung added.
According to Chung, Hwang reportedly quoted politics professors to argue that open primaries may be costly, as they risk supporters of rival parties trying to interfere with the vote.
Hwang, who is considered friendly to the Park Geun-hye faction, faces pressure by the rival faction members to be impartial to the demands for an open primary.
Apparently mindful of such calls, Hwang said at his first Supreme Council meeting, “The party will give (the open primary) in-depth thought. As we do not have much time to hold the primary for the presidential candidate, we will make a decision as soon as possible.”
Hwang was set to follow-up his meetings with Kim Moon-soo and Lee Jae-oh as well to discuss the nomination process, party sources said.
By Lee Joo-hee (jhl@heraldcorp.com)
Rep. Hwang Woo-yea, who was elected the new Saenuri chairperson on Wednesday last week, met with Rep. Chung Mong-joon over the weekend to discuss the nomination process.
The party currently picks a presidential candidate through a combination of an electoral college and preliminary opinion polls. The votes by the electoral college, including party delegates, rank-and-file members and citizens, make up 80 percent of the total result while opinion polls make up 20 percent.
While former chairwoman Park Geun-hye reportedly stands by the current system, her rivals including Chung, former Gyeonggi Governor Kim Moon-soo and Rep. Lee Jae-oh demand the party adopt a fully-open primary, where ordinary citizens hold all the votes, regardless of party affiliation.
“I met with chairman Hwang (on Saturday) and told him he has a great responsibility to manage a fair primary,” Chung said in a press conference on Sunday at the party’s headquarters in Yeouido.
“The party leadership must speed up the formation of the primary management committee and a monitoring committee comprised of fair and neutral members,” Chung added.
According to Chung, Hwang reportedly quoted politics professors to argue that open primaries may be costly, as they risk supporters of rival parties trying to interfere with the vote.
Hwang, who is considered friendly to the Park Geun-hye faction, faces pressure by the rival faction members to be impartial to the demands for an open primary.
Apparently mindful of such calls, Hwang said at his first Supreme Council meeting, “The party will give (the open primary) in-depth thought. As we do not have much time to hold the primary for the presidential candidate, we will make a decision as soon as possible.”
Hwang was set to follow-up his meetings with Kim Moon-soo and Lee Jae-oh as well to discuss the nomination process, party sources said.
By Lee Joo-hee (jhl@heraldcorp.com)
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Articles by Korea Herald
