[Editorial] Political Dispute Ignoring the Public

It seems that politicians come out and take to the street. The Millennium Democratic Party (MDP) decided to wage a campaign to collect 10 million signatures from the public in a bid to call for the revelation of the truth behind the draft-dodging scandal involving the son of Lee Hoi-chang, presidential candidate of the Grand National Party (GNP). In response, the GNP is considering the impeachment of President Kim Dae-jung and campaign to urge the resignation of the incumbent administration.

It is hard to understand that the MDP decided to wage a campaign to collect signatures from the public especially at a time when the prosecution is digging into the draft-dodging scandal. Do they really think that the truth behind the scandal can be unearthed by signatures collected from the public, or a vote? Or do they intend to misguide the public even before the result of the case comes out? The former or the latter, it is a dangerous idea that can threat the rule of order, the fundamental of democracy.

Also it is next to impossible for the party to get signatures from 10 million people, which account for 30% of eligible voters.

Ever since the target number of signatures set by those who spearheaded the democratization movement in June, 1987 was 10 million, political parties have waged campaigns to collect 10 million signatures one after another, but no report has been release that even a single campaign achieve the goal. It shows the irresponsibility of political parties.

The GNP`s move is nothing better than that of its rival. The GNP threatens to impeach the President, whose tenure is closing to an end, and wage a campaign to urge the resignation of the incumbent government. But this kind of political maneuvering by the GNP is nothing new to the public.

The rival parties` offensives whose efficiency and feasibility are not guaranteed can be, in fact, translated as a campaign for the upcoming presidential election. It appears that both parties aim to turn the public attention to each other. Whatever the intention, it is shameful that political parties are obsessed with pointing at each other in front of the public without consideration of the livelihood of the public.

If political parties have enough energy to be engaged in such a humiliating tug-of-war, they`d better give helping hand for those who suffer from the catastrophic damage cause by the flood. And if they don`t want to do it, at least they should prepare for the confirmation hearing for Prime Minister designate Chang Dae-whan, or the ordinary session of the National Assembly for September.