Discord on primary rules

Does Park have problems in communication?

The ruling Saenuri Party is mired in acute intraparty discord over rules to select a candidate for the presidential election scheduled for Dec. 19. Those who support hopeful candidates other than Park Geun-hye staged protests outside the party headquarters Tuesday in protest against the launch of the 13-member primary management committee a day earlier.

On Sunday, three minor presidential contenders ― Reps. Lee Jae-oh and Chung Mong-joon and Gyeonggi Province Governor Kim Moon-soo ― even issued an ultimatum, threatening to boycott the primary unless the party changes its current rules. Currently, the ruling party’s nominee is determined by a combination of party delegate votes (20 percent), party member voting (30 percent), the public’s voting (30 percent) and opinion polls (20 percent).

The three contenders insist that an open primary be adopted in consideration of the general trend shifting toward opening the primary to the public and the desperate need to arouse interest in it. Their argument is understandable in that they stand little chance of beating Park without revising the way the party selects its presidential candidate.

Nevertheless, they seem to be going too far. It’s irrational for them to threaten a party split merely on the grounds that their demands for changing the rules are not accepted. At the same time, it doesn’t make sense to “adjust rules of games to athletes’’ as Park pointed out in late April.

The open primary is advantageous as it could bring fresh vigor into political circles by enabling ordinary people to take a direct part in politics, but the system has its own problems. More than anything else, the open primary is running directly counter to the axiom of party politics that has been cherished in modern democracies for centuries. Also, there is lingering concern that opposition party members will vote in the open primary to cast ballots against her if it is introduced without agreement from opposition parties.

It would be difficult for Park and her supporters to accept the open primary, given her traumatic experience concerning primary rules in the previous election. In the ruling party’s 2007 presidential primary, Park won the most votes from party members and delegates but lost to Lee Myung-bak eventually because he scored higher in public opinion polls.

It’s up to the Saenuri Party and its members about how to select their presidential candidate. They could introduce an open primary or maintain their current primary rules. Or, the party could raise the ratio of the general public ― currently 50 percent ― and introduce a system in which presidential hopefuls crisscross the country in regional primaries.

What worries us most is that Park, currently the strongest presidential contender, might have serious problems communicating, like President Lee. She is also criticized for showing a lack of flexibility and ignoring democratic rules that ensure the protection of the minority. We are afraid that we will have another failed president. <The Korea Times>

news@theasian.asia