[Editorial] President Roh Should Respect the Law and the Will of People

As debates over the Constitutional Court’s ruling of the government’s plan to move the capital continue to heat up, President Roh Moo-hyun is scheduled to make a speech to the National Assembly today.

This speech will mark a pivotal turning point in the current political situation. Depending on what stance the president decides to take, political conflicts can either be resolved or the country can go through another period of turmoil.

Everyone knows the answer already: President Roh should modestly accept the ruling of the Constitutional Court and say that the government will seek ways to minimize regional gaps in terms of development. If the president decides to raise objections or add ambiguous comments under the premise of accepting the ruling, the situation will get worse. The very act that the president—who is supposed to protect the Constitution more than anyone—is commenting on the final ruling of the Constitutional Court is in violation of the Constitution. The results of many polls conducted by various organizations show that two out of three citizens are in favor of the Constitutional Court’s decision. This is called the will of people.

Reasonably, a call for introspection is gaining support within the ruling party. One legislator from the ruling Uri Party recently pointed out that the ruling party should reflect whether it has administered state affairs for the population at large or only for the supporters of the Uri Party. The leaders of the ruling party should recognize and share the efforts of self-examination by some of their colleague legislators and reflect them in their actions.

As a matter of fact, the president holds the largest responsibility for the chaos that resulted from the Constitutional Court’s ruling. The Roh Administration bulldozed policies that were far from the public opinion and caused conflicts and loss of time and money nationwide. Consequently, such an act led to distrust in the president and insecurity in state affairs. The ruling by the Constitutional Court should be interpreted as a serious warning on President Roh’s brinkmanship.

What truly expected from the president are self-control and the courage to retreat when necessary, and not to be unyielding in his pride and self-righteousness. The basic rule that every politicians should keep in mind is to respect constitutionalism and the will of people. Then, through an open debate without any involvement of political expediency, the government should produce realistic blueprint on the regionally balanced developmental plans with the opposition parties.