The conservative party, led by chairwoman Park Geun-hye, is ready to administer
a set of new policies, focusing on nominating more female candidates for the
upcoming local elections on May 31.
Soon after the news of Rep. Choi Yeon-hee's misbehavior, which led him to quit
all his party posts including secretary-general, the GNP saw its female voters'
approval rating drop by more than 5 percentage points.
In an effort to fix the negative image of the party, the GNP policymakers
recently decided to field at least one female candidate for each unit area of
the municipal government elections.
More than 30 percent of the slots for local assemblies will be allotted to
female candidates, which the GNP describes as an ``unprecedented'' preferential
measure. If it fails to meet the 30-percent quota, the party plans to give
women the seats distributed between parties in proportion to their shares of
the national vote.
Party officials in local areas such as the conservative Kyongsang provinces
grudgingly accepted the party's new measures in full consideration of the
seriousness of Choi's sexual misconduct, GNP officials said.
In its candidate screening processes, the party plans to exclude persons with a
history of sexual misbehavior.
The party also plans to hold a seminar later this month on the preventative
measures against sexual harassment. It is the first time for the GNP to prepare
for such an event for lawmakers.
The new set of policies are considered the finishing touches of the party's
spin-doctoring maneuver, which up until now has focused on criticizing Prime
Minister Lee Hae-chan for his ``inappropriate'' behavior on March 1.
Facing the GNP-led criticism, Lee's spokesman on Sunday quoted Lee as
apologizing for playing golf on Independence Movement Day when unionized
railway workers, including some subway operators, began to stage large-scale
strikes.
The Korea Times
