Posts tagged ‘Park Geun-Hye’
On Monday 4 July 2011, the Grand National Party (GNP) elected former prosecutor Hong Joon-pyo, as its new chairman. Hong declared reform to be a key priority, as the conservative ruling party struggles to regain popular confidence ahead of next year’s two major polls. Hong succeeds Ahn Sang-soo, who stepped down in May 2011, to take responsibility for the party’s defeat in the April by-elections. Hong received 41,166 votes, followed by Yoo Seung-min, a close aide to Park Geun-hye, who received 32,157 votes. The vote establishes a cleaerer path towards reform within the GNP.
On 31 March 2011, it was announced that President Lee Myung-bak would hold a press conference on 1 April 2011, to express his position on the government’s decision to abort the proposed south-eastern region airport construction project. Read more
During 8-10 March 2011, a three-day meeting to discuss revisions to the constitution was attended by 125 National Assembly representatives of the Grand National Party (GNP).
The key agenda item was revision of the constitution to change the presidential term of office from the current single five-year term to a four-year term with one chance for re-election. Constitutional revision to allow for two-term presidency has been on the national political agenda for a considerable period of time.
Supporters contend that a two-term presidency will increase the willingness of the president to negotiate with his or her opponents and encourage a first-term presidential administration to better reflect the will of the people. However, there is little chance of constitutional revision gaining wider public support.
Constitutional revision is perceived as a non-critical issue and cannot compete for public attention with issues that currently have a more direct effect on the national population, such as food and energy price rises, inflation, and national security. Further, the public holds a dim view of political infighting over what is perceived as a non-critical issue. The issue is highly contested within the ruling GNP; with several notable pro-Park Geun-Hye faction stalwarts not attending the 8-10 March meeting; and is currently not supported by the opposition parties.
On 6 January 2010, Chung Mong-Joon failed to win a fifth term as FIFA Vice-President and stood down from the FIFA Executive Committee.
The failure to secure a fifth term was the result of internal FIFA politics with incumbent President Sepp Blatter throwing his support behind Jordan’s Prince Ali bin Hussein and a coalition of West Asian football federations in order to avoid facing Chung as a future rival in the race for the FIFA presidency.
Chung’s defeat also has an impact on Korean domestic politics. His failure to both secure the World Cup for Korea in 2022 and to secure his position as FIFA Vice-President will have a dual effect. Given the nature of the defeat, it may provide a degree of nationalist sympathy amongst voters and allow Chung to pay closer attention to domestic politics.
However, it may also demonstrate a degree of ineffectiveness in diplomacy and negotiation, which was considered to be his area of strength. While Chung already has a solid party base and infrastructure from which to run a Presidential campaign, success will ultimately depend on the fate of Park Geun-Hye. Park currently holds an enormous influence within the GNP and a preference rating of 30-40 percent in public polling.
