The main opposition party decided Friday to ask corruption-tainted former President Park Geun-hye and two of her allies to leave the party, in an unprecedented disciplinary action aimed at improving its image and fostering unity in the fractured conservative bloc.

The Liberty Korea Party's (LKP) ethics committee accepted its reform panel's recommendation to demand she and Reps. Suh Chung-won and Choi Kyung-hwan exit the party.

Upon notification, Park is required to submit written consent within 10 days, after which the party can deprive her of membership. But the explulsion of the lawmakers requires consent from two-thirds of the LKP lawmakers present for a party vote.

Park's departure will strengthen the LKP's hand in future talks for a possible merger with the splinter Bareun Party. Reformist members of the minor party demanded the removal of Park and her loyalists as a precondition for any talks on the merger.

Still, uncertainty hangs over the prospects of a tie-up, as some Bareun Party members want to "go it alone," arguing the party should distance itself from the LKP old guards and deliver on its pledge to create "new, warm, transparent" conservatism.

The move to sever ties with Park was a culmination of the LKP's months-long reform efforts to regain public support that has crumbled following the massive influence-peddling scandal that led to Park's parliamentary impeachment in December and her ouster in March.

But it could be a double-edged sword given it risks riling some party supporters still sympathetic towards the disgraced former leader who is currently standing trial on a litany of corruption charges, observers pointed out.

The party had been divided over Park's membership. Some members argued Park should stay on in the face of "political retribution" from the ruling liberal bloc, while others said the party has to hold her strictly responsible for sullying its image and undermining conservative values in the wake of the scandal.

The ethics panel's decision came as the LKP seeks to cement its parliamentary foothold to rein in increasingly assertive liberal rivals and bolster chances of a win in next year's local elections seen as a referendum on President Moon Jae-in's first year in office.

Some Bareun Party members, who have warmed to the idea of a merger, have been carefully watching the LKP's decision over Park's membership. Upon Park's departure, these members could defect to the LKP, observers said.

Other party members are expected to focus on preparing for the party's leadership election slated for Nov. 13, to make a fresh start after its former leader Lee Hye-hoon bowed out last month over a graft scandal.

 

Source : Yonhap