GNP head blasts gov`t policies; calls for cabinet resignation

Rep. Lee Hoi-Chang, president of the main opposition Grand National Party(GNP), demanded on Thursday that all cabinet members resign to assume responsibility for what he called a total national crisis and form a new cabinet to overcome the emergent situation wisely.

In his keynote speech representing his party at the National Assembly plenary session, the GNP leader contended that a regime that has lost the public¡¯s confidence and refuses to take responsibility is more dangerous than an incompetent one.

At the same time, Rep. Lee demanded that President Kim Dae-Jung end the political strife and renounce his membership in the ruling Millennium Democratic Party(MDP) in order to devote himself to serving the people. He also asked the president, concurrent leader of the MDP, to do away with discriminatory government appointments for specific provinces in order to achieve inter-regional harmony, put an end to his one-man rule and build a system for the establishment of the rule of law and national development.

The opposition leader stated that if his party takes over the government, it would not use the prosecution to maintain its grip on power and would abandon the vested rights to prosecution authority that have been enjoyed by the governing camp.

Rep. Lee called for a parliamentary investigation of power-related scandals such as the Dongbang illegal loan controversy, the review of the medical reform program and educational reform measures and the securing of fairness and political neutrality on the part of power organizations, including the prosecution.

Contending that the government's economic policies and restructuring reform programs have failed, Lee proposed the enactment of an extraordinary law for the prevention of bureaucratic financing, anti-corruption legislation, and special laws on the management of public funds and the reduction of state debts and financial deficits.

In addition, the GNP president reaffirmed his opposition to North Korea¡¯s proposal for a loose form of federation prior to national unification, stressing an acute need for military confidence building, the addressing of the North¡¯s development of weapons of mass destruction and the withdrawal of North Korean troops from the front lines.