Lee calls for end to factional division within ruling party

SEOUL, March 20 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Myung-bak called for an end to the factional division within the ruling Grand National Party on Monday, asking newly elected party leaders to carry out reforms and improve internal unity to win back public trust. Lee's meeting with Rep. Hwang Woo-yea, the new floor leader and acting chairman of the GNP, came as a sense of crisis deepens within the party after it suffered a humiliating defeat in last month's by-elections, which were seen as a test ahead of next year's general and presidential elections. Analysts have blamed the declining popularity of the GNP partly on the long-running factional feud between mainstream members loyal to President Lee and others backing Park Geun-hye, Lee's erstwhile rival considered a leading contender in the next presidential race. The two rival factions, referred to as "pro-Lee" and "pro-Park," have often clashed over a series of issues, many times unrelated to policies, raising perceptions that the ruling party is preoccupied with the factional fight without caring for people. "As the ruling party in power, it is important to show a responsible attitude to the people," Lee told Hwang and other GNP leaders at the start of the breakfast meeting. "We should debate with each other over policies ... and we also have to get rid of such things as pro-Lee and pro-Park." In last month's elections, the GNP won only one of three key races in the elections, losing out in its stronghold district of Bundang, south of Seoul, to main opposition Democratic Party leader Sohn Hak-kyu. That sparked a sense of crisis that the GNP could suffer crushing defeats in next year's parliamentary and presidential elections. Calls for a sweeping overhaul of the party have also been growing.