[Editorial] Factional Interests Governing Society

While the National Assembly is crippling for the sixth consecutive day, caused by the Grand National Party (GNP) Rep. Ahn Taek-Soo`s demand for the resignation of President Kim Dae-Jung, House Speaker Lee, Man-Sup declared, ``I will open the Assembly plenary session by all means.`` There are only two ways to normalize the National Assembly. One is opening the session only by the opposition parties, the GNP and the United Liberal Democrats (ULD), without the participation of the Millennium Democratic Party (MDP), and the other is normalization of the National Assembly by the mutual agreement of the rival parties. Which way is good for the nation and people is really clear.

I do not want to request for the normalization of the National Assembly any more. I just want to say that politicians should be afraid of the eyes of the people. The National Assembly has remained idle for six days only with the issue of the `unreasonable demand` of an opposition Rep. in response to an `inappropriate speech` of the president. The majority of the people are utterly indifferent to such a low-level politics.

If the presidential speech was apt to be misunderstood, president needs to present the detailed explanation, and the Rep. Ahn needs to apologize for the `immoderate speaking`. Even though there is a political disagreement on the explanation and apology, it should not be a issue for crippling the parliamentary session, and this is a basic common sense of democracy.

When there is a disputing issue, politicians, first of all, easily close the session. Ignoring the people, they start ill-tempered fighting against each other. The MDP is stubborn over the few words of the apology draft although the floor leader of the GNP apologized and house speaker promised the deletion of the parliamentary record. And the GNP cannot make head or tail of the countermeasure due to the confrontation between the doves and hawks of its own.

Moreover, the MDP cannot negotiate independently with the GNP because of the influence of Cheong Wa Dae. Thus, there is no decent negotiation or trade. The National Assembly repeats the limping operation, and always the people`s livelihood suffers.

House Speaker Lee, Man-Sup said, ``The National Assembly is not for the politicians but for the people.`` and lamented, ``The rival parties are fighting like elementary schoolchildren.`` He spoke on behalf of the people. The present National Assembly is the third-grade. Even the politicians are claiming the political reform everyday, politics cannot be reformed or developed with this kind of National Assembly.

The politics that is `fighting like elementary schoolchildren` are any more unbearable. It is re-thinkable that whether the root cause of the problem lies in the `old-fashioned political leadership` or not.