The ‘New GNP’ captures control of ruling party

Politics

Published: 11 May. 2011, 21:59

The ‘New GNP’ captures control of ruling party

Hwang Woo-yea, right, GNP floor leader, and Chung Ui-hwa, left, head of the party’s emergency council, talk yesterday at the National Assembly. [YONHAP]

Still reeling from a rout in last month’s by-elections, the ruling Grand National Party papered over a power struggle in its ranks by dividing control of the party between two interim leaders.

But the compromise couldn’t conceal the rising might of a reformist group in the party, dubbed the New GNP, which has gotten support from an alliance with loyalists to former GNP Chairwoman Park Geun-hye.

The loser in the power struggle is the once powerful faction loyal to President Lee Myung-bak.

At a party caucus, the GNP decided that its new floor leader reformist Hwang Woo-yea, elected last Friday, will be the party’s acting head in charge of legislative and party affairs. Hwang is a central figure in the New GNP.

Chung Ui-hwa, head of an emergency council handpicked by outgoing Chairman Ahn Sang-soo, a pro-Lee lawmaker, was to oversee reform measures and preparations for a party convention to elect a new leadership in two months.

The compromise was a victory for the New GNP, which has effectively grabbed control of the party, pushing out the pro-Lee Myung-bak faction.

The group’s rise has been rapid.

After the April 27 by-election defeats, the GNP leadership, led by Ahn, stepped down. Ahn named Chung as his successor on an emergency council.

Ahn’s move was met by fierce resistance, and the secretariat and legal council of the GNP ruled yesterday morning that Hwang, as floor leader, should be the acting head of the party, based on its constitution and regulations.

Chung refused to accept the ruling, and senior lawmakers of the GNP, who have served four or more terms in the legislature, met to discuss the issue. Both Chung and Hwang attended the meeting.

At the meeting, the two sides agreed to split power for the time being. The compromise was discussed and endorsed at the party caucus in the afternoon.

With the GNP’s power struggle tentatively sutured up, the reformists in the conservative party formally launched their faction, the New GNP, yesterday. As of 5 p.m., 44 lawmakers had joined the group.

The group started with only a few members, but in recent days, lawmakers once aligned with the party’s two major factions - pro-Park and pro-Lee clubs - started joining.

Most of the members of the New GNP are first- and second-term lawmakers from the capital region.

Seventeen Park loyalists also declared their affiliation with the New GNP.

By Ser Myo-ja [myoja@joongang.co.kr]

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