Ruling party holds off on nominations for Seoul strongholds; DUP makes more nominations
The ruling Saenuri Party paused its nomination for general election candidates in several high-profile Seoul districts, where it enjoys strong support.
The party also gave former leader Rep. Hong Joon-pyo candidacy in his current constituency in Dongdaemun-B, despite lingering speculation that the party may continue to exclude pro-presidential figures from the race.
Hong pledged last month to leave all decisions about him up to the party and declined to apply for nomination.
The party also nominated former vice culture minister Park Sun-kyoo for the Youngdeungpo-A constituency in western Seoul, currently represented by leading pro-Lee Myung-bak figure Rep. Chun Yu-ok.
The right-wing party’s slow progress in nominations is largely due to its failure to discover talented political rookies to substitute sitting lawmakers, observers said.
On Wednesday, the Saenuri nomination screening committee announced its third list of candidates in a total of 16 constituencies, but left core districts such as Gangnam and Seocho out of the picture.
The party had earlier decided to implement strategic nomination in these areas, aiming to achieve prominent reforms, but was faced with a shortage of human resources.
“It is difficult to recruit capable figures, especially as the current regime is heading to its end,” said a party official.
“We have contacted a variety of potential candidates but most have declined the offer.”
Incumbent lawmakers in the Gangnam area such as Reps. Koh Seung-duk, Lee Hye-hoon, and Lee Jong-koo are expected to be nominated in other districts within the capital.
Jung-gu, the central Seoul constituency where former lawmaker Na Kyung-won applied for nomination, was also excluded from the panel’s list.
Na has recently been dogged by suspicions that her judge husband requested that a prosecutor indict a blogger who had slandered her.
Other high-ranking members such as former floor leader Rep. Kim Moo-sung and vice parliamentary speaker Chung Ui-hwa, too, are awaiting the party’s nomination results.
While deferring the decision for the affluent southern districts and other critical areas, Saenuri evaluated the former party head to be the right man to guard the key northern Dongdaemun-B constituency after all.
“Rep. Hong, though he remained humble over nomination issues, is an experienced senior lawmaker and also has a people-friendly image which may appeal to the voters,” said a party official.
The ruling party thus finalized its candidates for 118 out of 246 constituencies and decided to hold nomination contests in 47, as of Wednesday.
The main opposition Democratic United Party also continued to name its candidates but faced feuds over the process.
The aspiring candidates for the Dongdaemun-A constituency staged a protest against the party’s sudden decision to cancel the scheduled primary and implement a strategic nomination instead, in which the party leaders handpick the nominee.
By Bae Hyun-jung (tellme@heraldm.com)
koreaherald@heraldcorp.com
