The ruling Saenuri Party launched its election committee Monday to oversee the party’s presidential nomination, rebuffing minority dissenters’ call for a fully open primary.

In a meeting in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, the Supreme Council passed the appointment of the election committee headed by former National Assembly speaker Kim Soo-han. The 13-member committee comprised of former and incumbent lawmakers as well as civilian political experts will be in charge of managing the overall nomination schedule such as the registrations by presidential hopefuls.

The underdogs running up against the Saenuri’s leading presidential hopeful Park Geun-hye lambasted the formation, threatening to boycott the entire process and refusing to talk with the leadership that is seeking compromise with them.

“The primaries will fail to be neutral if they plan to manage the nomination process with an arrogant and egotistic mindset,” Rep. Lee Jae-oh said in a radio interview.

“It would be more suitable for (Saenuri Chairman Hwang Woo-yea) to resign from his chairmanship and work as a delegate for a certain candidate in her camp,” Lee said.

The so-called non-Park members, including Reps. Lee and Chung Mong-joon and Gyeonggi Province Gov. Kim Moon-soo, have been hammering the Saenuri leadership for favoring Rep. Park by refusing to consider introducing a fully open primary.

The trio is expected to continue their aligned resistance by threatening to withhold their candidacy registration until the new primary rule is considered, as they attempt to challenge Park who has overwhelming support in various public opinion polls.

With their boycott, the party faces the risk of losing steam in the run up to the main presidential race against the main opposition Democratic United Party, observers said.

The party’s leadership indicated it was willing to compromise, apparently cautioning against the leadership’s decision from being perceived as stubborn.

“We will discuss the matter concerning the demands by other potential candidates in the future,” Saenuri spokesman Kim Young-woo said in a briefing.

Supreme councilor Rep. Chung Woo-taik also said during the council meeting, “It is asked that the presidential hopefuls gather together and gather their opinions on the primary rules. Unless former chairwoman Park shows willingness by directly discussing (with her rivals), the people might become disappointed.”

Under the current regulations, the party elects its presidential candidate by combining votes by party members and ordinary citizens. The minor presidential hopefuls call for a vote that is 100 percent decided by citizens.

The pro-Park faction believes that an open primary among non-party citizens is problematic for being costly and overlooking the rights of the party members.

The non-mainstreamers argue that an open primary is necessary in order to accurately reflect the wishes of the people for a successful presidential race.

The pro-Park faction is reportedly willing to consider introducing a tour of regional primaries, or expanding the current 200,000-large electoral college to around 500,000.

Rep. Shim Jae-chul, who has been arguing for open primaries, also called for compromise.

“It is understandable that the election committee had to be launched as we are running out of time. However, there should also be a channel through which the potential candidates can express their views.”

Shim, nonetheless, expressed his discomfort over the leadership’s decision by withholding his vote on the committee formation.

About six months remain until the Dec. 19 presidential election, and the ruling party must nominate its final candidate by Aug. 20 according to the party charter.

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