[Editorial] No Double Standard in Confirmation of Acting Prime Minister

The conformation hearing for prime minister designate, which was the second of its kind, has ended. Like the previous one for Prime Minister designate Chang sang, who failed to get the confirmation of the National assembly, the hearing this time also disappointed the public. Hearing committee members asked questions without thorough preparations and the acting prime minister before the committee just begged for leniency not giving proper explanations about raised his wrong behaviors. The public was all the more disheartened in terms of his ethics as a candidate for public office.

When a candidate for the No. 2 administrative post is saying that according to the law, he is clean, people turn a deaf ear to his saying. Even though the hearing was not good, it showed the acting prime minister’s ethics and whether he has quality for the post. Some analyses show that his ratings by the public are lower than those for the first prime minister designate.

In the run-up to the vote by the National Assembly, the public demands two things of political circles. The one thing is that the same standard as that for Chang sang should be applied to Mr. Chang. If the standard changes occasion by occasion, the public will lose confidence in the Assembly. Groups calling for equal rights for women have started to raise doubts over the confirmation hearing saying unfairness.

The other thing is that the approval by the Assembly should be decided only based on whether he has qualifications for the No. 2 administrative job. In other words, he should be confirmed as prime minister only if he has quality and public service ethics. Already lawmakers gave grade to the acting prime minister in their mind. Their rating should not be affected by party lines. Though compromise is business as usual in politics, there should not be compromising in the matter of principles.

Korean people have never has a prime minister through proper confirmation hearing and process. This time a good precedent should be set though it entails something of pain. If the standards for confirmation sway from the very beginning, it is very ominous for confirmation hearings in the future.