Ruling Party Assemblymen Are Skeptical About Forming Coalition Government

It turns out that even the lawmakers from the governing party, not to mention those from the opposition parties, are largely pessimistic about forming a coalition government, an idea constantly being pushed forward by President Roh Moo-hyun and the ruling Uri Party leadership.

The Dong-A Ilbo analyzed a recent survey held from July 13 to July 15 on the creation of a coalition government and revising the Constitution among members of the National Assembly. The study shows that with regards to “the most desirable attitude taken by the President in dealing with state affairs as a minority government,” only eight percent of respondents from Uri Party supported “giving opposition lawmakers seats in the cabinet,” which is a way to form a coalition government.

All the 299 assemblymen were the subjects of the survey, but only a total of 149 members gave answers: 63 out of 146 Uri Party members, 73 out of 125 Grand National Party (GNP) members, five out of 10 Democratic Labor Party (DLP) members, five out of 10 Democratic Party members, one out of three United Liberal Democrats (ULD), and two out of five independent members of the National Assembly. When it came to forming a coalition government of the Uri and Grand National parties, 60 percent of the governing party respondents said it was an “inappropriate suggestion,” and 84 percent of them believed it would be “virtually impossible.” Nearly all of the GNP respondents, or 98 percent, replied it was “not fair” and would “not turn into a reality.”

Jung-Eun Lee lightee@donga.com