President Roh Moo-hyun is willing to form a coalition cabinet if the ruling and opposition parties reach a consensus on the matter, presidential spokesman Yoon Tae-young said Thursday.
"Many national tasks have been left abandoned amid protracted wrangling among political parties. As long as the National Assembly assumes more responsibility for such stalled tasks, the president is ready to talk with ruling and opposition party leaders about the formation of a coalition cabinet," Yoon told reporters.
"It could be a neutral coalition cabinet or a caretaker cabinet."
He stressed that such discussions on a coalition cabinet would take place only when the operations of the Assembly return to normal.
Yoon's remarks came in response to growing calls from local political circles for the formation of a nonpartisan coalition cabinet.
In an Assembly interpellation session on Thursday morning, lawmakers from both the ruling Uri Party and main opposition Grand National Party (GNP) demanded that Roh create a neutral cabinet to help remove obstacles to key state affairs and controversial legislation.
Rep. Kim Boo-kyum of the Uri Party urged the president to consider launching a neutral cabinet to help free local political circles from political wrangling, while Rep. Choe Kyoo-sik of the same party suggested that Roh's cabinet be newly replaced by widely trusted figures early next year.
Rep. Jung Jong-bok of the GNP also insisted that President Roh form an "emergency security cabinet" to help speed up the settlement of the North Korean nuclear problem.
In response, Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook said she and the president have held serious discussions about the formation of a coalition cabinet.
"The president is open to the issue of creating a coalition cabinet," she said.
Seoul, Nov. 9 (Yonhap News)
President Roh offers to form coalition cabinet |
