[Editorial] The Road Ahead for Uri Party

Moon Hee Sang and the rest of Uri Party's leadership have all resigned, in acceptance of the party's utter defeat in this week's National Assembly by-elections. It actually would have been strange if the leaders of a political party that keeps losing had stayed around, since these days sports teams change coaches when the team fails to perform well. When president Roh Moo Hyun said the election defeat was his responsibility and tried so hard to back up Moon's leadership, he was underestimating the party's sense of crisis and demands for change coming from among its membership.

It would be hard to predict where Uri, currently engulfed in a sea of waves, is going to go from here. The return of the presidential hopefuls has become a possibility, sending the party into a full-scale whirlpool of competition over control of the leadership. The what the party's leadership looks like and whether the potential presidential candidates return to the party or not is, however, a secondary issue. What Uri needs to do first and foremost is to define itself with a clearer voice after re-establishing its political identity and platform. To the people Uri looks like a group that is unsure of where it is going and that lacks any real determination to achieve reform. Restoring the people's confidence is of primary urgency.

There is going to be discord between Cheong Wa Dae and the ruling party now that party leaders have suddenly resigned despite the president's wishes. The discord will only grow worse if Roh tries a sudden move of his own to turn the situation around, and so one would hope that Cheong Wa Dae will give up trying any desperate maneuvers in an attempt to gain control of the party. It needs to humbly reflect on why there is such fierce criticism of the president coming from within the party and have that reflected in how it runs the country. At the same time, the importance of avoiding unconditional adherence to the wishes of Cheong Wa Dae while nevertheless maintaining cooperation between Roh's government and the ruling party must not be overlooked. Both sides need to bear in mind that unnecessary friction and confrontation would be undesirable for the ruling camp and for the nation.

The Hankyoreh, 29 October 2005.

[Translations by Seoul Selection]