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Scores of S. Korean ruling party lawmakers defect to create new conservative party

Xinhua, December 27, 2016 Adjust font size:

Scores of South Korean ruling Saenuri Party lawmakers on Tuesday bolted from their party to create a new conservative party following the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye.

A group of 29 members of the party's anti-President Park faction officially declared their defection and the formation of their new party tentatively named "New Conservative Party of Reformists."

The defection reduced the number of Seanuri legislators to 99, lower than 121 lawmakers of the main opposition Minjoo Party. The minor opposition People's Party has 38 parliamentary seats.

The new party would usher in a four-party system in the South Korean political scene in about three decades as it meets the requirement of over 20 parliamentary seats to form a floor negotiation body.

The four-party system came as the People's Party was launched earlier this year by former Minjoo Party members, while the anti-Park faction's defection divided the conservative bloc. The new conservative party will be formally launched on Jan. 24, 2017.

The divisions both in the liberal and conservative blocs would complicate an early presidential race.

The bill to impeach President Park was passed with an overwhelming support. Local media said the constitutional court could rule on the bill by mid-March, before which two of the court's nine justices retire. If the motion is justified, a presidential election must be held within 60 days.

Potential presidential contenders of the Minjoo Party managed to fish in troubled water thanks to the presidential impeachment and the scandal involving President Park and her longtime confidante.

However, there is no distinguished candidate found from the conservative bloc, while Ahn Cheol-soo, potential contender of the People's Party, saw his approval ratings stay low in recent weeks.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, whose second five-year term comes to an end by the year-end, is seen as the most powerful presidential hopeful in the conservative bloc.

Both anti- and pro-Park factions of the Saenuri Party as well as the People's Party have reportedly sought to scout Ban as their presidential contenders. Endit