[Editorial] Feud Over GNP Primary Rules Continuing

Although the two leading presidential hopefuls of the Grand National Party (GNP)--former Seoul Mayor Lee Myung-bak and Rep. Park Geun-hye--met Friday to narrow their differences over primary rules, they ended up embroiled in a new war of words. In response, party Chairman Kang Jae-sup said, “I will draw up a compromise version and push it through within the week.” Although it might be belated, Kang seems to have made a right decision.

However, the two contenders reiterated that they will not budge on the primary rules. “I have already made concessions three times to change the primary rules. If the party attempts to change it again, it cannot claim itself to be a ‘public party,’” Park said. In response, Lee refuted this, saying, “The voices of the party and the public should be reflected 50/50.”

In March, a preparatory committee meeting for the primaries, in which representatives of the two presidential hopefuls participated, came up with a 200,000-person electoral college consisting of chapter delegates, ordinary members, nonmember citizens and a public opinion poll in a ratio of 2:3:3:2. However, they left room for dispute by not specifying the details of the weight of the opinion poll on the primary outcome.

Lee, who did not raise the issue at that time, has been belatedly claiming that the number of public poll respondents must be fixed at 40,000 to reflect 20 percent of the entire body of party delegates. However, it is important to note that the number of poll respondents was adjusted in proportion to the actual turnout of voters in house-elections like the party`s nomination race for the Seoul mayoral candidacy seat. If that rule is applied, the number of poll respondents is likely to drop to some 25,000.

Meanwhile, Park’s argument is also not persuasive. Although she has been saying that not a single word of the March agreement should be changed, it is important to note that the GNP has constantly changed its intra-party race rules. For instance, the GNP reform committee changed last year’s decision to hold primaries in June with 50,000 delegates in an attempt to select a more competitive candidate against the pan-ruling block’s open primaries. Moreover, Park even bolted from the party during the 2002 primaries because the changes that she wanted to introduce over primary rules--increases in public votes and the introduction of a collective leadership system--were not accepted by the party at that time.

Considering the circumstances, the two rival candidates should let the party decide on the primary rules and bet everything they have onto the contest of policies. It is wiser to make a small concession to gain a big one.