Saenuri pounded by member list leak

Saenuri pounded by member list leak

Rep. Park Geun-hye, former leader of the ruling Saenuri Party, places a flower at an altar for eight victims who died in a recent helicopter crash in Peru, In Seoul, Wednesday, two days after their bodies returned home. / Korea Times photo by Sohn Yong-suk By Kang Hyun-kyung A senior Saenuri Party official is confirmed to have illicitly handed over a list containing the names of 2.2 million party members to eight people who hoped to be selected to run for the ruling party in the April 11 parliamentary elections. The data is considered a vital asset for candidates gearing up for the polls as the ruling party chose many of its candidates based on public opinion results. Pollsters use such lists when conducting surveys. The fresh scandal is likely to tarnish the image of Rep. Park Geun-hye, the top presidential hopeful for the Saenuri Party. During a briefing at the National Assembly on Wednesday, Rep. Park Min-shik told reporters that among the eight, two were chosen to run in the elections on the ruling party ticket. Many of its candidates were chosen based on the results of public opinion polls, while leaving dozens of slots for what it called strategic selections. Park Min-shik said one candidate was elected as lawmaker in the Ulsan district, while the remaining one was defeated. He said the incumbent lawmaker in question, whose name was not made public, was chosen strategically, meaning then the selections committee picked him without the influence of survey results. Park’s remarks, if found to be true, indicate that the lawmaker owes nothing to the list when picked as a Saenuri Party candidate. He gave the briefing as he chairs the task force investigating the money-for-list scandal involving a senior Saenuri Party official. The man identified by only his last name, Lee, gave the list containing the personal information of 2.2 million party members to a marketing firm in return for 4 million won. The fresh scandal is expected to hit the ruling party already troubled with a primary rule dispute between frontrunner candidate Park Geun-hye and three minor presidential hopefuls. Aides of Reps. Chung Mong-joon, Lee Jae-oh and Governor of Gyeonggi Province Kim Moon-soo have stepped up their efforts to take advantage of this in their call for an open primary. “The list was illicitly given to some candidates while Rep. Park Geun-hye controlled the party. This could mean that her aides were more likely to obtain it (as those who have no network or bonds with the chairwoman would have found it difficult to do so),” an aide to Chung said asking for anonymity. A backlash is inevitable as those who were not selected could claim voting fraud and call for a new contest to select a new lawmaker. The main opposition Democratic United Party (DUP) is set to make the most of the latest scandal to benefit their presidential hopefuls, urging the prosecution to investigate the case. “It will be unavoidable for Rep. Park Geun-hye to take responsibility for the case because she was ultimately in charge of the selection of ruling party candidates when the scandal occurred,” DUP spokesman Park Yong-jin said in a briefing. “Depending on the probe results, this could turn out to be a vote-rigging case as corrupt as that of the minor Unified Progressive Party (UPP).”