[Editorial] Roh Should Give Clear Answer to Chung’s Proposal

As for the proposal made by Chung of National Alliance 21 just after the agreement on single candidacy with Roh of the pro-government Millennium Democratic Party (MDP) that a Constitutional revision should be made to reduce the power of the president, the MDP is showing some reservations. Though they think that reducing the power of the president and giving a greater role to the prime minister is good, they worry that this could be seen as an attempt to split important cabinet posts between the MDP and National Alliance 21.

However, the two parties should not make this issue take a lot of time. The problem is that this issue is at the center of campaign cooperation between Roh and Chung. What is more, they should show their political identity to the public. Therefore, Roh should make clear what he thinks of Chung’s proposal of constitutional amendment to the public. In effect, they should have decided on this issue before they reached agreement on joining forces to pick up the single candidate. If they couldn’t because of lack of time, now is the time for them to make their standpoint clear.

In the political merger between Roh and Chung, whoever wins the opinion polls is supposed to become the united candidate and the other is supposed to take the role of leading the joint election campaign. The two parties are also supposed to fine-tune policy lines. This cannot but be translated into the two parties’ joint operation of the new government. The problem is that the new government could be in tatters because the two parties are so different in ideology and policy lines. A case in point is the political alliance between the incumbent president Kim Dae-jung and Kim Jong-pil in last election. Now, Roh should show his blueprint for national management, in which he should clarify how he will keep to the minimum the possible political chaos arising from the political merger.

In the same context, Roh should give a clear answer to Chugn’s proposal to limit presidential power at the earliest. Of course, the final choice of the proposal is up to the public. But the MDP and National Alliance 21 should not postpone this issue to the end of the election even to help the public make a right choice in the election. What is more important than the two parties’ political merger and join campaign is that they should make it clear first how they would run the country if elected and wait for the judgment of the public.