[Column] President must follow through on promise

To be rid of the evil vices of the ruling party, the Cabinet and the presidential office, there needs to be sincere introspection. It mustn`t be superficial. As stated by Kim Keun-Tae, a highest-ranking member of the ruling Millennium Democratic Party (MDP), the effort must be "one of self-sacrifice by the ruling party and the administration."

To do so, a self-confession is necessary. They must be able to confess that in any given situation, the nation and the people took the back seat to power and party gains, and that their eyes and ears had been blinded by arrogance and complacency. Without such confession and self-sacrifice making an impression on the public, "self-treatment" might not be effective.

At an opportune meeting between President Kim Dae-Jung, also the ruling party¡¯s president, and the highest-ranking members of the MDP, the atmosphere took on such gravity that none were able to easily reach for the wine on the table. Although the code of silence concerning the discussion at the meeting seems a bit odd, it appears as though certain that earth-shaking comments were made by the attendees, a flight from the usual nodding of heads at the words of the president.

As the ruling MDP presidential special aides also proposed a measure for a cleanup of the ruling apparatus, it appears the ball is in President Kim`s court.

The real issue of President Kim`s decision is the timing and the scale. Rep. Kim Duk-Ryong of the opposition Grand National Party (GNP), whom I met last week, said, "President Kim needs to make a decision by next January of his severing party affiliation."

For the cleanup of the government, that seems to be the only avenue. Some might criticize Rep. Kim`s words as being yet another political tactic. However, according to Rep. Kim, with the current situation of regional party line, even should the opposition GNP come into power, there is a limit to the level of fundamental political reform and national development.

To overcome such limitations, the very political topography of the ruling and opposition party affiliation must be overhauled. For such an overhaul, President Kim`s secession from the MDP could become the detonator.

Although it is lamentable, the "people`s government" failed to unify the people. Regardless of where the various faults lie, the truth cannot be denied. The opposition GNP, as well as the ruling MDP, failed to rise above regionalism. President Kim, as the president of such a regional party, bickers with another regional party president, the opposition party. Making the matters worse is the fact that the opposition holds the majority.

Being caught up in the numbers game, the ruling MDP was forced to continue the awkward collaboration with the Unified Liberal Democrats, to railroad the National Assembly Laws, and to engage in the physical barricade to block the passage of the impeachment of the prosecutor general. Such affairs only have marred the image of President Kim, a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.

Why is it absolutely necessary for President Kim to also retain the post of the MDP presidency? Is it unavoidable if the president were to take responsibility of the ruling apparatus? Should President Kim leaves the party, would he not be able to effectively rule it? There are doubts. If the President Kim had to seek the cooperation of both the ruling and the opposition parties and seek the understanding of the public, would the ruling apparatus be hit with such a crisis as it is now? Who would believe that the ruling MDP would turn its back on President Kim and become unruly if the president were to secede? Such fears are most probably from the sector mostly fearing changes and the sweet words to the president by those with vested power in the current system.

To reiterate what has been said many times previously, President Kim should resign from the post of party presidency, as he had promised. He must rise above the accusation of being the president of a party heavily laden with regionalism and carry out his duties as the Korean president in the term remaining. Should such occur, the "obstacles" by the opposition party will also lose their effective strength. Also, should the president rise above the party squabbles as he carries out his duties to the nation, thereby attaining the support of the public, the ruling and the opposition parties might be forced into a sort of "fidelity competition" to the president and the people.

The president could be freed from the clumsy Kim Dae-Jung/Kim Jong-Pil alliance trap and push through more effective reforms. The party and the Cabinet also could find a wider pool of experts to help their cause. Isn`t this the big picture aimed by the shakeup?

President Kim must become the president who succeeds. Such success is not an issue solely with the president as an individual or any special political circle. It is a moral obligation to many who have sacrificed their lives for the democratic process in the past and is the proof of the soundness of democratization. Should President Kim fail, as former President Kim Young-Sam did, the futility of democratization might be left in the minds of the people and the nation.

We are at a fork in the road, one leading to success and the other to failure. We do not have time to look around. It is time to cast away the dead weight in order to save the life.

Chun Jin-Woo, editorial writer