[Reporter`s view] Ruling party lacks leadership

Since the filibuster leading to the automatic abolishment of the impeachment bill of the Prosecutor-General, a sense of inability to lead seems to be taking root among the ruling Millennium Democratic Party (MDP) members. Concerning the crippled National Assembly, they simply lament, "There`s simply isn`t any solution."

The ruling MDP held various meetings Nov. 21 with the its highest-ranking members and advisors, but nothing more was achieved than all demanding that the National Assembly must be normalized as soon as possible.

"Look at the demand by the opposition Grand National Party (GNP) for the normalization of the National Assembly, the retirements of the Prosecutor General and the National Assembly Speaker. How could we satisfy the demands?" one high-ranking official of the ruling MDP said.

Chong Wa Dae has kept its hands off the matter, stating: "The matters concerning the National Assembly should be dealt with by the MDP. Although certain government officials have been known to be busying themselves among the party officials, they seem more or less still fishing for ideas among various persons from various fields."

In the current standoff, the scope of the course of action of the ruling MDP is limited. Although the ruling MDP has been coaxing the opposition GNP by calling attention to "disunion of party warfare with the pending bills for the public welfare," it is all in vain as the trust between the parties has completely collapsed.

Wouldn`t it be better for the ruling MDP to face the very issue that has led to the crippling of the National Assembly, the impeachment bill, and first apologize for its action as it seeks to normalize the National Assembly? That might be the least that the ruling MDP could do to show its pledge toward its duty.