PM Designate Vetoed

As the National Assembly denied the confirmation of Prime Minister designate Chang Sang on the 31st, the political landscape is expected to be embroiled in turmoil.

President Kim Dae-jung`s control over state affairs will be dealt a serious blow, and the confrontation between the Grand National Party (GNP) and the Millennium Democratic Party (MDP) will be intensified in the run up to the upcoming presidential election.

Out of 244 parliamentarians, 100 cast ballots in favor of Chang, while 142 voted against her. There was one invalid vote and one blank ballot.

15 lawmakers were absent in the vote including three from the GNP, six from the MDP, five from the splinter United Liberal Democrats (ULD) and independent lawmaker Chung Mong-jun.

This is the 7th time the National Assembly rejected a confirmation in the nation`s history and the first time since August, 1960, when the fifth National Assembly rejected the confirmation of then acting prime minister Kim Do-yeon.

Park Sun-sun, presidential spokesperson said, "It is deplorable that Chang Sang, a capable and respected female leader, who was appointed the first-ever female premier in the nation`s history, was rejected by the National Assembly. Future course of action will be announced after further coordination."

The presidential office of Chungwadae is considering ways to let Deputy Prime Minister Chun Yun-cheol fulfill the prime minister`s role.

Chungwadae reportedly decided to select the alternate to Chang in haste and began sounding out the opinions of candidates for premiership.

New prime minister nominee is expected to be announced on Aug. 1 at the earliest.

A new premier nominee will be a figure, whose qualification has been proven to meet the expectation of the public and lawmakers. Chungwadae is reported to thoroughly check the qualification of the next premier designate.

Before the floor vote, the GNP and the ULD held a general meeting and decided to leave the choice to individual lawmakers. But the MDP set the party line in favor of the confirmation motion.

In response to the rejection of the confirmation, Nam Kyeong-pil, GNP spokesman said, "The result reflected the will of the public in accordance with the introduction of the first-ever confirmation hearing. We learnt a hard lesson that arbitrary personnel management by President Kim should not be repeated."

Lee Nak-yeon, MDP spokesman said, "The GNP should take responsible for the possible confusion in state affairs. If Chang Sang cannot become prime minister, Lee Hoi-chang, GNP presidential nominee, should immediately resign as he has more serious flaws." Yoo Yun-young, ULD spokesman said, "The unfortunate result stemmed from insufficient checking process of Chang`s qualification.

Yeon-Wook Jung Chol-Hi Lee jyw11@donga.com klimt@donga.com