[Editorial] Confusion Will Follow if President Leaves Uri

President Roh Moo Hyun has mentioned the subject of leaving the ruling Uri Party. Technically he was talking about what was going through his mind when Uri resisted his proposal about a coalition government last year, but he still seems to be agonizing over the idea because he is said to have mentioned the possibility to a few of his aides just recently. When a president leaves his party it is an issue that goes beyond personal political choice. It could cause problems for the formation and implementation of policy, since the Korean style of running government is based on the framework of party politics. It should be self evident that it would cause confusion in affairs of state and that the people would suffer the consequences.

The president is said to have reminded people of how previous presidents also withdrew from their parties. Previous examples should not be followed when they are wrong. Presidents Roh Tae Woo and Kim Young Sam each left what is now the Grand National Party and entrusted it to presidential candidates Kim Young Sam and Lee Hoi Chang respectively. When president Kim Dae Jung's two sons were implicated in scandals, he left the Millennium Democratic Party so as to keep from being a burden for its presidential candidate, Roh Moo Hyun. Each withdrew party membership as they neared the ends of their terms, and at the will of others. The current president, however, has two whole years left and his party is worried about the possibility of him leaving it.

Reportedly, the president says he is unable to act on his convictions because of challenges from Uri. The moment he should withdraw membership, however, his government would become half paralyzed. He would be unable to establish policy based on conviction or implement reform legislation. But it was he himself who said he wanted a coalition government because he cannot do anything without a majority in the National Assembly.

Discord with Uri is a matter for everyone in the ruling camp, and it should solve it by itself. It should not lead to something as out of place as having the president leave and make the country suffer as a result. The ruling party and the president have shared a common fate, having created this government with the support of the people. Together they have an obligation to carry out that which they promised voters during the campaign. They are not in a position to fight so recklessly, and they need to think of their relationship with the people. How can you call someone the head of his family if he leaves because it is not doing what he wants?

The Hankyoreh, 13 January 2006.

[Translations by Seoul Selection]