[Editorial] Disrupted National Assembly Sessions and Prime Minister’s Intentions

Following Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan’s derogatory remarks on the Grand National Party, the question sessions at the National Assembly for the government have remained disrupted for two days. The GNP called for President Roh Moo-hyun to fire Prime Minister Lee, while Mr. Lee stepped up his offensive by demanding the GNP to apologize for its “red-baiting.” The prime minister should be held responsible for the current turn of events.

The question session is where lawmakers ask questions on behalf of the public to which the prime minister and Cabinet members respond. On that very occasion, he said, “The GNP is not a good political party,” and fundamentally dismissed the existence of the opposition party as a legislature partner. He ignored representative democracy itself. Was it just lip service when he said, “The GNP changed a lot. It has become easier to work together,” while on his visit of the GNP in July?

The prime minister should rise above partisan interest and fine-tune government administration. He should look at all issues from the view point of the public, not in partisan interest. He should take initiative in controlling conflict. The attitude the prime minister has been taking is opposite to such posturing. He expressed bold antipathy toward any group critical of the regime, regardless of whether it is the press or the opposition party. He gives an impression that he is at the forefront of the political struggle under the slogan of “Roh supporters, let’s weld together.” This is why some fractions of the ruling party began to criticize him by saying, “Reforms should not be implemented impatiently as revolution is.”

We’d like to pay attention to suspicions rising from some quarters of the political world, which claims that Mr. Lee’s get-tough posturing toward the opposition party is a political scheme to get the four major reform bills passed at the National Assembly. They said his posturing is part of the process to push through the bills after disrupting the National Assembly. If this proves to be true, the issue is more far-reaching than the prime minister himself. The entire regime will face national resistance.

The country is in a tough condition. Out of public livelihood, economy, national security, and education, none is intact. When the prime minister, who should seek cooperation from the political parties to revamp government administration, pushes politics into catastrophe, his quality as a government administrator will be doubtful. Mr. Lee should immediately apologize for his remarks.