Internal strife reached new heights at the ruling Saenuri Party on Monday as the sidelined presidential hopefuls protested the leadership’s intention to stick to the original primary schedule.

The move opened up the possibility of the primary becoming a half-full race, as underdogs vowed to ditch the competition unless the primary rules were altered.

The broadly pro-Park leadership held a Supreme Council meeting in the morning and afternoon to discuss the original primary schedule as suggested by the recently launched election committee.

"After a two-hour-long meeting in the afternoon, it was decided that the primary will be held on Aug. 19. At this point, the party regulations remain unchanged,” Saenuri spokesperson Kim Young-woo said.

The nomination will be finalized at the party convention on Aug. 20, Kim added.

According to the timetable set under the party constitution and regulations, the party must finalize its presidential candidate decision by Aug. 21.

The underdogs including Reps. Chung Mong-joon and Lee Jae-oh and Gyeonggi Gov. Kim Moon-soo have sternly demanded a fully open primary, criticizing the party’s presidential frontrunner Park Geun-hye for dominating the party’s decision-making processes.

There were also rising calls to readjust the primary schedule to avoid overlapping with the Olympics in July and August.

“Would people allow the country to be left in the hands of a party that has become a personal party under a one-person dictatorship, in which one cannot get through to each other?” Lee, a five-term lawmaker, said in a radio interview, apparently referring to Park.

He added it would be difficult for him to join the primary if the rules remained unchanged.

His comments echoed those of Chung, who said at a press conference Sunday he would not be able to join the race if the party did not set up a consultative body to discuss the primary rules.

Kim also held a press conference Sunday and reaffirmed that he would not participate in the primary unless the rules are changed.

Upon news reports of the leadership’s decision to push through the primary schedule, the trio’s delegates gathered for an emergency meeting to discuss the next step.

Former chairwoman Park, whose partisan grip solidified upon the successful April general elections, had remained adamant on keeping the rules that about half of the decision is made by the party delegates and members, and the other half through votes by ordinary citizens and opinion polls.

Without the dissenting trio, the race would likely be among Park, former presidential chief-of-staff Yim Tae-hee and former Incheon Mayor Ahn Sang-soo. Former Gyeongsang Gov. Kim Tae-ho is also reportedly thinking of running.

“It is hoped that as it was in (the) 2007 (presidential election), the primary race turns out to be one that is joined by all until the end,” Supreme Councilor Lee Jung-hyun said during the council meeting Monday morning.

Park had lost to President Lee Myung-bak in the contentious primary five years ago, during which Park won higher partisan support but lost overall by falling behind Lee in opinion polls.

“The leadership is not here to nitpick at the party’s constitution as one wishes, but has the obligation to abide by them,” he added, urging the dissenters to accept the current rules.

It was reported that Park refused the leadership’s suggestion to delay the primary schedule citing the London Olympics by saying that the Saenuri’s primary was as important as the international event.

The leadership, instead, has been offering several adjustments to the primary rules as a compromise, such as increasing the size of the electoral college to 500,000 from the current 210,000 and holding regional votes and policy debates.

By Lee Joo-hee (jhl@heraldcorp.com)