It is unfortunate that the fact the police have raided the Seoul district offices of the ruling Uri Party has become the subject of a politicized exchange between the ruling and opposition parties. A search warrant on the office of a political party clearly is unusual, and it would be hard to find a precedent. However, one does get the impression the Grand National Party (GNP) is being too hasty in saying, without much basis, that the action is part of a scripted conspiracy relating to the upcoming regional elections.
Creating "ghost party members" and having them pay membership fees is something that threatens the most basic procedures of democratic politics and as such must be thoroughly uprooted. And the shameless act of secretly stealing money from elderly people of difficult financial means is inexcusable.
However, prudence is just as important as resolve when it comes to a police investigation of irregularities within a political party, because though the goal is justified, going about an investigation in a reckless manner risks upsetting the foundations of party-based politics. The warrant on Uri's Seoul district offices does in one way qualify as an exception, since it came at the national party's request. In the future, unless there are leads suggesting clear illegal activity or formal complaints from persons involved, law enforcement should refrain from intervening as much as possible.
This whole episode should be turned into an opportunity to make party primaries more transparent. Each party has different names for their special membership programs, but all were adopted with the goal of eradicating the abuses that came with selecting candidates behind closed doors and returning that authority to the voters. Realistically, however, a lot of problems have resulted from the way people seeking to win nominations have gone overboard in competing to sign on new members. One would hope to see parties work harder to clean up their acts after taking a careful look at their working-level operations, instead of engaging in unnecessary attacks on each other.
The Hankyoreh, 18 January 2006.
[Translations by Seoul Selection]
[Editorial] Parties Need to Clean House, Not Fight |
