[Editorial] Where Is Promised Campaign Reform Bill Gone?

The efforts to reform Congress ended up with nothing. The congressional committee in charge of the reform failed to come up with a change. Therefore, the upcoming presidential election will be conducted based on the existent campaign law. Once the idea of a campaign costing less is over, many people worry that candidates may spend trillions of won (i.e. billions of dollar) for the upcoming election. If that should happen, the aftermath of the election would probably entail numerous side effects.

What is proved this time is the lack of the will on the part of the politicians to keep their promise to overhaul the campaign law. The National Election Commission submitted to Congress a reform bill in September to reform the current system. Nonetheless, the politicians have shown a lukewarm response to it. They were just busy over their only business: war of partisanship. When the public angrily asked for reform, only then they grudgingly composed a committee. That happened just 50 days prior to the presidential election.

With their half-hearted attitude and mindset, it was impossible for them to come up with any substantial positive results. Only for two days, the subcommittees of it touched the agenda. But, the subcommittee members spent most of the session discussing marginal issues like TV debate and political parties` issuance of statement.

What they did has been repeated over and over again. What politicians say is one thing, and what they act is another. It becomes most illuminating when it comes to reforming the campaign law. Ironically, the better positioned a political party, the more lukewarm the party in addressing the problem. Reforming the law would cost the parties less money in conducting campaigns. But, that`s what we think. The politicians do not want to seal off the channel through which black money fattening their pockets can come in. Without reforming their minds first, the campaign reform will remain an idea after the election.

What a campaign means is to root out the corruption. Therefore, reforming the campaign law is the end as well as the starting point of the political reform. Watching the reform efforts fizzling out, we cannot help but have a negative prospect for its future. It`s time for the citizens to roll up the sleeves and take the action. We can count on the politicians no more.