Chong Wa Dae to Face Difficulties in Managing State Affairs

Stung by the National Assembly`s decision Friday to reject the nomination of Yoon Sung-sik as chief of Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI), Chong Wae Dae criticized the opposition parties for voting down the president’s nominee by exercising majority power. The rejection is set to ratchet up political tensions further.

The one-house parliament rejected by a 136-87 vote the appointment of Yoon Sung-sik as head of the Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI). Three lawmakers abstained and three ballots became invalid. Forty-three legislators did not attend the voting without giving any reasons.

It was the first time that the National Assembly has rejected a president`s nomination of chief state auditor since the agency was inaugurated in 1963. It also marked the first time that Roh`s nominee for a public post has been voted down by parliament.

The rejection of the President’s nominee for the nation’s chief auditor signals possible difficulties in dealing with crucial bills pending at the parliament in that the floor vote suggested a possible alliance among the Grand National Party, the Millennium Democratic Party and the United Liberal Democrats.

President Roh is expected to name another candidate for the post within next week. Meanwhile, as the tenure of sitting BAI chief Lee Jong-nam expires on Sept 28, the audit agency will be led by acting chief Yoon Un-joong for some time.

Right after the parliamentary floor vote, Chong Wa Dae held an emergency meeting of presidential secretaries and aides to discuss how to deal with the current situation and decided to submit a motion calling for the approval of the nomination at earlier dates.

Presidential chief of staff Moon Hee-sang expressed deep regret over the rejection vote at a press conference held at Chong Wa Dae. ˝It is really regretful and deplorable that the National Assembly turned down the nomination bill without appropriate reason. And the government will make utmost efforts to push for reforms the public has been asking for,˝ said the chief presidential secretary.

The new political group, tentatively named the New Party for National Participatory Union lashed out three parties for voting down the appointment motion, urging them to give up their politically motivated alliance and not to take state affairs hostage right away.

On the other hand, GNP spokesman Park Jin said the rejection was inevitable and reflects President Roh’s erroneous personnel management. Roh brought abuout his own ruin by nominating Yoon, who is laking in first-hand administrative experience and qualifications to maintain political neutrality.

MDP spokesperson Kim Sung-soon said, ˝MDP lawmakers expressed their own opinions through the floor vote,˝ suggesting that there was no official party line on the issue.

Ahead of the parliamentary floor vote, the GNP, the MDP, and the ULD decided that their lawmakers should cast their votes freely, whereas the new party took an official party line to give a green light to the nomination.