South Korea's embattled conservative party first cancelled and then re-confirmed Kim Moon-soo's presidential bid in just hours amid growing internal conflict ahead of the June 3 election.
The unexpected turn of events on Saturday, following a failed attempt to replace Mr Kim with former Prime Minister Han Deok-soo, underscored the leadership crisis in the People's Power Party (PPP) since the ouster of former President Yun Seok-yul, who imposed martial law in December, leaving conservatives likely to face defeat in the next election.
Mr Kim, a staunch conservative and former labour minister under Mr Yoon, was nominated as the PPP's presidential candidate on May 3, winning 56.3% of the vote in the primary election, defeating a reformist rival who had criticised Mr Yoon's performance.
However, the PPP leadership, which is dominated by Mr Yoon's supporters, has been pushing hard for the past week for him to step aside in favour of Mr Han, whom they see as a stronger candidate against the liberal Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung.
After discussions between the two leaders failed to unify their candidacies, the PPP's emergency committee made an unprecedented decision on Saturday morning, canceling its primary, cancelling Mr Kim's nomination and registering Mr Han as a party member and the new presidential candidate.
The replacement required approval in an all-party vote conducted via automated telephone polling, which resulted in the proposal being defeated on Saturday night.
“While we cannot disclose the exact numbers, the vote to replace the candidate was narrowly rejected,” party spokesman and lawmaker Shin Dong-wook said.
Mr Kim, who denounced the party's attempt to oust him as a “one-day political coup”, was immediately reinstated as a candidate and plans to formally register with election authorities on Sunday, the party said.
“Now everything will return to normal,” Mr. Kim said in his address.
The 73-year-old activist, who was a prominent figure in the trade union movement in the 1970s and 1980s, joined the Conservative Party in the 1990s, saying he had given up his dream of being a “revolutionary” after watching communist regimes collapse.
Since then, he has served as governor of South Korea's Gyeonggi Province for eight years and as a member of the National Assembly for three terms.
Mr Han has been acting president since the legislature impeached Mr Yoon in December and
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
