GNP turns to Na for mayoral race

Lawmaker fast narrowing opinion poll gap with liberal candidate Park


Rep. Na Kyung-won of the Grand National Party is once again gaining momentum as the party’s likely candidate for next month’s race for Seoul mayor as the polls show her catching up with potential candidate Park Won-soon.

According to the poll conducted by the Chosun Ilbo on Tuesday, the last day of the Chuseok holidays, Rep. Na won the support of 36.2 percent of respondents to Park’s 46.5 percent.

The gap of just over 10 percentage points down significantly from the 18.6 percentage points margin reflected in a poll conducted last Wednesday, shortly before the holidays.

Na also outran Rep. Park Young-sun, policy committee chairperson of the main opposition Democratic Party, a potential candidate for the opposition camp.

Na’s rise in popularity was largely due to the tacit agreement within the party that she may be the only rival to match civil activist Park, whose popularity soared after Professor Ahn Cheon-soo renounced any possibility of his candidacy.

Though Na was considered the ruling party’s top frontrunner, chairman Hong Joon-pyo had previously hinted at his resistance to another representative of the pro-Lee Myung-bak faction taking the post of Oh Se-hoon who stepped down recently.

The party had turned its eye to other options, including incumbent Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik and other high-ranking government officials. However, as these alternative plans failed, due to Cheong Wa Dae’s resistance, Rep. Na once again rose as the party’s possible ace card.

Pro-Park Geun-hye members, who were said to be considering a veto of Na’s candidacy, also made concessions in her favor.

“Rumors say that an in―party group vetoed a specific mayoral candidate, but this is not true,” said Supreme Council member Rep. Yoo Seong-min on Wednesday.

Observers pointed out that Park Won-soon’s dominance may only be temporary, following his backing from Ahn.

Ruling party supporters in the relatively affluent southern Seoul area of Gangnam, who had previously leaned towards Park, have largely turned back to Rep. Na, according to the post-Chuseok polls.

Na has not yet officially announced her candidacy. The party is scheduled to select its Seoul mayoral candidate on Oct. 4, according to a party spokesperson on Thursday.

As Prime Minister Kim has been ruled out of the race, the party is scanning other potential figures.

“The party’s internal election committee is considering all possible options, both among party members and non-party figures,” said Rep. Kim Chung-kwon, the party’s secretary-general.

Public Administration and Security Minister Maeng Hyung-kyu is currently said to be first in line.

By Bae Hyun-jung (tellme@heraldcorp.com)