In a "letter to my party comrades," president Roh Moo Hyun explains his ideas about a coalition government to members of Uri Party. The gist of his unconventional proposal is that if the membership of the National Assembly accepts the idea of reorganizing electoral districts in a way that would resolve the politics of regionalism, he would largely yield presidential authority to the main opposition Grand National Party.
We do not doubt Roh's good intentions or his sincerity of motive behind seeking to do away with regionalism. Everyone in the country agrees on the importance of that goal. But when the people voted for him in direct elections and gave him the authority to run the country as its president eradicating regionalism was not the only mandate they had in mind. It is a serious betrayal of the voters to arbitrarily hand over power without asking what the will of the people is. Roh has even encouraged the GNP to "hurry up and take over state affairs so that the crisis can be overcome," which is enough to make you wonder whether he has any desire to continue to perform the his presidential duties.
Furthermore the assumption that regionalism will be uprooted overnight if there is only a change in the way electoral districts are organized is not well thought out. Doing so would surely help alleviate the problem of regionalism in national politics, but it would in no way satisfy everything that needs to be done.
Roh's rosy optimism about how the political process will be on the right track if there is a coalition government is as dangerous as can be. The country has already seen well enough that far stronger political unions such as the "Three Party Merger" and the "DJP Union" did not function as planned. Noting that Korean political culture differs from that of the United States, Roh suggests that the French "cohabitation government" is a model Korea should follow. However, France has a political culture expressed in the word tolérance, quite different indeed than the situation in Korea.
The president said a coalition would be the "normalization of the country's political structure." However, it is clear that coalitions are "abnormal political structures" chosen when there is no choice, in emergency situations. We ask him whether this is really a crisis and emergency that requires a "nationally inclusive cabinet." If the country really is in a crisis situation of that proportion, the solution should be sought in methods other than something like a coalition government.
The Hankyoreh, 29 July 2005.
[Translations by Seoul Selection (PMS)]
[Editorial] Roh Wants to Give Power to GNP? |
