[Editorial ] Public Servants Should Stop Election Campaign for Certain Candidates.

The June 13 local election is raising concern. The election process where illegal campaigns are rampant and voters pay little attention is worrisome, but more worrisome is about whether local autonomous government officials and local parliamentarian members can conduct local autonomous administration in a right manner. In particular, some incumbent public servants’ illegal practices to support a certain candidate should be stopped right away since it will bring about serious consequences ranging from work vacuum in a short term to government work distortion in a long term.

According to the report of the Paper, 95% out of 332 public officials or 315 answered in the recent survey released by the Naju City Hall of Jeollanamdo that public officials are involved in the election. The result cannot be seen confined only in the certain region, and public officials’ involvement in the election cannot be stopped only with the National Election Commission’s call for self-restraint. Special action at a government level is required.

Public officials’ involvement in the election takes in the form that they secretly provide election information for a certain candidate or help a candidate’s election campaign to get favor. In particular, it is an open secret that subordinates are forced to help an incumbent local government head to win the election again. It is not unusual that a candidate leaves from a government position during election and returns the position as special employee after being elected. It is sort of office hunting.

In that case, it is clear that conflict and confrontation will occur in administrative organizations. Preferential actions and disadvantages in officialdom after the election will cause split of ‘who is for whom’ and controversy, thus undermining government’s business. Unless such structural illness is eliminated, a self-governing system will be hard to take root.

The government should show strong willingness and commitment that it will prevent public servants from being involved in the election. When the issue is not addressed right away, the aftermath will be that huge. Public servants, for their parts, should maintain an impartial stance that it will not intervene in election.