Chaos and betrayals

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Chaos and betrayals

The United New Democratic Party primary has descended into chaos. Candidate Sohn Hak-kyu has opted out of an evening television debate and yesterday he flew to the countryside after touring martyrs’ shrines in Jeoldusan and Namyang. Sohn’s aides are accusing Chung Dong-young of luring away party lawmakers to the party leadership if he wins the presidential election.
It is true that the new party has many problems in the primary. They call their election a “national primary” but people do not care about this event. They registered people as potential voters without getting permission or informing them that only one in five can come to the polling booth to vote.
The votes also flowed out from certain regions depending on which lawmaker had lured voters to vote. This is not the developed democratic system they boasted of. They are deceiving people. The UNDP candidates are one by one giving up their candidacy and it is inevitable that people would believe that there must be a conspiracy behind this.
Even so, Sohn’s actions are questionable. He had already dropped out of the Grand National Party because he felt he was falling behind the competition.
If he leaves the UNDP again, he will be setting an example of insubordination in Korean political history.
The primary game has started and the rules cannot change. He said that he had yielded once on the rules, so he would be only whining if he wants to make a big issue out of this rule again.
It is almost pitiful to watch Sohn’s actions. For a person who wants to become the president, his actions are wrong. His party has a new name, UNDP, but he is well aware that it is still the Uri party.
Did he not expect something like this to happen when he chose to transfer to another political party, that he would have to fight against forces rooted in the party for scores of years?
He shouldn’t have left the GNP without bracing himself to endure some hardships. He betrayed the GNP once. Is he going to betray the UNDP this time? If so, what is his identity? Even in an election for a school president, people are more mature. Why can’t he show us some bravery?
If there is a problem in the primary, he should present reliable evidence and face the problem squarely. Do not go driving around the provinces trying to grab attention. He should return and face the remaining primary elections. If he has no confidence, he should resign.
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