ID :
192610
Mon, 07/04/2011 - 06:04
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/192610
The shortlink copeid
Ruling party to pick new chairperson
By Kim Eun-jung
SEOUL, July 4 (Yonhap) -- The ruling Grand National Party (GNP) is to elect its new leadership at its national convention Monday, which will be tasked with reviving the beleaguered conservative party ahead of next year's major elections.
This convention will elect the party's new chairperson and four supreme council members from among a total of seven candidates -- Reps. Won Hee-ryong, Kwon Young-se, Hong Joon-pyo, Nam Kyung-pil, Park Jin, Yoo Seung-min and Na Kyung-won, who are all in their late 40s and early 50s. There have been recent calls for a fresh face to steer the struggling conservative party through next April's general elections.
The GNP's new leadership election will be determined based on a 7-to-3 combination of votes from a 210,000-member electoral college and the outcome of a two-day telephone survey of 3,000 people held over the weekend.
On Sunday, 52,809 party members, or 25.9 percent of the electoral college, cast their votes at 251 polling places nationwide, the party's election watchdog said, showing relatively low voter turnout due to the heavy rain.
During the party convention set to begin at 2 p.m. at Seoul's Olympic Gymnastics Hall, 8,881 party delegates from respective regions will cast their ballots, which will be added up to determine final results to be released after the polls close at 6 p.m.
During the campaign period, political debates centered on economic and welfare issues, such as college tuition, tax cuts on corporations and the wealthy and free lunch program.
Political watchers have warned that the GNP stands to lose many of the 171 seats that it currently has in the 299-member National Assembly unless it turns voter sentiment around amid negative perceptions about the grim job market and growing income disparity under the pro-business Lee Myung-bak administration.
With Lee in his fourth year of a single five-year term, political watchers are keeping an eye on how the new party leader would keep pace with the current leader over key policies and produce the future leader from the ruling camp.
Park Geun-hye, former party leader and daughter of former president Park Chung-hee, has been considered as a strong contender for December 2012 election. She has so far topped polls far ahead of opposition candidates, including Sohn Hak-kyu, the leader of the main opposition Democratic Party.
ejkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
SEOUL, July 4 (Yonhap) -- The ruling Grand National Party (GNP) is to elect its new leadership at its national convention Monday, which will be tasked with reviving the beleaguered conservative party ahead of next year's major elections.
This convention will elect the party's new chairperson and four supreme council members from among a total of seven candidates -- Reps. Won Hee-ryong, Kwon Young-se, Hong Joon-pyo, Nam Kyung-pil, Park Jin, Yoo Seung-min and Na Kyung-won, who are all in their late 40s and early 50s. There have been recent calls for a fresh face to steer the struggling conservative party through next April's general elections.
The GNP's new leadership election will be determined based on a 7-to-3 combination of votes from a 210,000-member electoral college and the outcome of a two-day telephone survey of 3,000 people held over the weekend.
On Sunday, 52,809 party members, or 25.9 percent of the electoral college, cast their votes at 251 polling places nationwide, the party's election watchdog said, showing relatively low voter turnout due to the heavy rain.
During the party convention set to begin at 2 p.m. at Seoul's Olympic Gymnastics Hall, 8,881 party delegates from respective regions will cast their ballots, which will be added up to determine final results to be released after the polls close at 6 p.m.
During the campaign period, political debates centered on economic and welfare issues, such as college tuition, tax cuts on corporations and the wealthy and free lunch program.
Political watchers have warned that the GNP stands to lose many of the 171 seats that it currently has in the 299-member National Assembly unless it turns voter sentiment around amid negative perceptions about the grim job market and growing income disparity under the pro-business Lee Myung-bak administration.
With Lee in his fourth year of a single five-year term, political watchers are keeping an eye on how the new party leader would keep pace with the current leader over key policies and produce the future leader from the ruling camp.
Park Geun-hye, former party leader and daughter of former president Park Chung-hee, has been considered as a strong contender for December 2012 election. She has so far topped polls far ahead of opposition candidates, including Sohn Hak-kyu, the leader of the main opposition Democratic Party.
ejkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
