Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon said Thursday that keeping the candidate nomination system was an “unavoidable choice.”

“Abolishing the candidate nomination system was one of the public’s wishes. But (competing in the June local elections without the system) was same as playing a game with tied hands since the ruling Saenuri Party did not abolished it,” Park said in a television interview.

Although both candidates in the 2012 presidential election vowed to abolish the system, the government and Saenuri Party have overturned their election pledge, the mayor added.

Earlier in the day, the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy said that it would nominate candidates for the June local elections. The decision was made based on the results of a party vote and opinion poll.

By Lee Hyun-jeong(rene@heraldcorp.com)