[Reporter`s view] Lending lawmakers across parties is farce

The ruling Millennium Democratic Party's leadership "loaned" three of the party¡¯s representatives in the name of political stability.

"It was a last-resort, patriotic, self-sacrifice for the political stability," Rep. Kim Joong-Kwon insisted. "It is not an attempt to undermine the people's choice, which gave the majority to none of the parties."

The Secretary General of the Millennium Democratic Party (MDP), Park Sang-Kyu, stressed, "Political stability requires the United Liberal Democrats (ULD) to become a negotiating partner."

However, following the lending of representatives, the political storm brewing is far from political stability. The opposition Grand National Party (GNP) has decided on an all-out war, as the hoped-for summit between the ruling and the opposition party leaders faded. In all honesty, there probably would not have been much constructive discussion anyway should the talks take place. Already the voices are ringing throughout the halls of opposition GNP camp lamenting another year of short life for democratic polity.

For the ULD, granted it had been searching high and low for a way to establish itself a parliamentary negotiating bloc, most of its representatives are ambivalent concerning the loan. Most are of the opinion that rather than establishing a negotiating bloc through such borrowing of representatives, we should have gone our own way.

Following the numerous calls for political reform late last year, the ruling party stood at a fork in the road.

One choice for the ruling camp was to open its arms wide to the opposition GNP for symbiotic mutual aid, while the other was to re-establish a coalition partnership with the ULD for a strength-in-number polity. While the ruling MDP might have thought the second choice would offer political stability, the real situation is anything but from their expectation.

The lending of the representatives is truly ludicrous beyond belief. No matter what the rationale, the fact remains that the MDP has loaned the independent instruments of lawmaking as if they were some objects.

Being told that the criticisms are running high, one MDP lawmaker said, "We were prepared for such an onslaught lasting for some time." But when asked whether it would bring political stability, he answered: "We were at the end of our ropes. Isn't it obvious even to a babe in the woods such course is nonsensical?"