[Editorial] Split among conservatives

Conservative groups that are disillusioned with the ruling Grand National Party are rallying behind Lee Seog-yeon, a former minister of government legislation, who has decided to run in the Oct. 26 Seoul mayoral by-election. In response, the ruling party has abandoned the idea of encouraging him to seek its nomination after admitting him as a member.

But it is yet to be seen whether the disaffected conservative groups and the ruling party will go their separate ways or make a last-minute compromise over who will represent them in the by-election. Though the conservative groups have decided to field the former minister of government legislation as their own candidate, some of them are reportedly concerned about the damage their action will do to conservative unity ahead of a crucial election.

With the ruling party having given up on Lee as its potential candidate, Rep. Na Kyung-won is consolidating her status of frontrunner in the party’s race for nomination. But it is yet to be seen whether or not Rep. Park Geun-hye and her supporters, a major faction in the party, will endorse Rep. Na’s bid for the mayoralty.

Traditionally, the Grand National Party has spoken for all conservatives in the nation. But an increasing number of conservatives have recently been accusing the party of abandoning conservative values, ranging from the promotion of the market economy to the pursuit of fiscal prudence.

In their eyes, the ruling party has started to play second fiddle to the main opposition Democratic Party by co-opting some of its populist welfare policies. The conservatives are also disgruntled by what they regard as the party’s move to abandon a principled approach to relations with North Korea and embrace the North Korean communists.

One leading conservative commentator demands that conservative forces in the nation part with the party that no longer speaks for them. Instead, he says, they will have to work for the emergence of what he calls “new conservatism.” He adds the proposed split with the party can be promoted as a prelude to conservative unity.

The threat of a split in the conservative camp would be a setback of great magnitude for the ruling party, which has 169 seats in the 299-member National Assembly. It is testing the party’s capacity for crisis management in the run-up to the mayoral race and ahead of the parliamentary and presidential elections scheduled for next year.