Saenuri Party chairman Kim Moo-sung, embroiled in a highly public and bitter exchange of words with the Blue House over secure mobile phone polling for party nominations in elections, appears to have offered an olive branch, at least for now.
Boycotting all official functions on Thursday, including the Armed Forces Day ceremony attended by President Park Geun-hye and a meeting of the Saenuri Party Supreme Council, Kim met with reporters at the National Assembly and rebutted the Blue House criticisms of the secure mobile phone polling arrangement as well as the Blue House’s claim that he had acted alone without informing the Blue House. Kim reportedly called a high-ranking Blue House official in the evening and proposed that the two sides stop the attacks against each other.
However, all expectations are that the truce will be short-lived, as the pro-Park Geun-hye faction and its opposing faction battle over party nominations for next April’s general election.
The internecine struggle in the ruling party came to a head Wednesday when a high-ranking Blue House official slammed the tentative agreement on election rules reached between Kim and the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy chairman Moon Jae-in on Monday. The agreement calls for open primaries in the form of phone polling using secure phone numbers.
The Blue House official who paid an unscheduled visit to the Blue House press room — some three hours after the Blue House spokesperson had said that the Blue House would not comment on Kim-Moon agreement – went through a list of problems with the tentative agreement reached with the NPAD, point by point.
This abrupt turnaround is thought to have stemmed from President Park, who arrived in Seoul early Wednesday morning from a trip to the U.S. where she attended U.N. events. It also happens that this “briefing” occurred a few hours before a meeting of Saenuri Party officials. It is not difficult to postulate that Park was giving the Saenuri Party officials a “guideline” for dealing with the secure mobile phone number polling arrangement.
Indeed, the party leaders convened in a meeting a few hours later responded as expected. Those loyal to Park, known as the pro-Park faction, toed the Blue House line, pointing out the shortcomings of the plan. Some accused Kim of rushing the agreement during Park’s absence and others criticized him for giving in to the NPAD’s plan. The meeting concluded with the agreement that a special body would be set up to discuss the nomination system.
At the crux of the heated debate — and at times vitriolic personal attacks – is the fight over the nomination system for the upcoming general election. While Kim espouses an open primary system that would give more voice to the voters in choosing the candidates, the pro-Park faction is adamant on employing the so called “strategic nominations” that have often been criticized for muddying the whole election process.
The Blue House’s interest, and also that of the pro-Park faction, is to get as many Park loyalists as possible elected to the National Assembly so that Park may avoid a lame duck presidency. Having more pro-Park legislators would also boost Park’s clout within the Saenuri Party even after she steps down as president in February 2018. The non-Park faction of the Saenuri Party, meanwhile, would like to prevent Park loyalists from dominating the party. Hence non-Park loyalists are more receptive to the idea of an open primary system that rules out the possibility of the party powerful vetting candidates for nominations.
Factional struggles are part and parcel of party politics in Korea. However, the Blue House should refrain from saying or doing anything that may appear to violate the principle of separation of powers. Above all, the president should not be seen as playing a leading role in the factional struggles of a political party.
