PM should resign to bring state affairs back to normal

We remember that when Education Minister-nominee Kim Myung-soo’s plagiarism was a big issue in the confirmation hearing in June last year, Lee Wan-koo, the then ruling Saenuri Party floor leader, said, “If there is a problem to the eyes of the people, he can’t pass the confirmation hearing.” Now, Prime Minister Lee who is involved in the “Sung Wan-jong scandal” has a problem to the eyes of the people. On Sunday, he attended a ceremony celebrating the 55th anniversary of the April 19 student revolution, which was his first external event since President Park Geun-hye’s overseas trip, and confirmed that he has no intention to step down, saying, “As the president is absent, the state affairs should not be affected.” In fact, state affairs are affected by him. Prime Minister Lee needs to minimize the “impact on state affairs” by declaring his intention to resign.

The main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy party said in a meeting between ruling and opposition party deputy floor leaders said that it had no choice but to propose a bill to impeach the prime minister because he who is involved in the “Sung Wan-jong scandal” is not voluntarily stepping down. The ruling Saenuri Party thinks that it is not right to propose a bill to dismiss the prime minister while the president is on an overseas trip. Prime Minister Lee caused many impending issues stalled --including passing key bills during the interim parliamentary session in April and addressing the public service pension reform within the deadline.

There could be controversy over whether it is right to submit a bill to dismiss the prime minister during the president’s overseas visit or not. It seems impossible for Prime Minister Lee to perform his duties as a prime minister now because he often changed words and behaved inappropriately. A group consisting of first and second-time lawmakers of the ruling party even urged that if he is a responsible second man to the president, he should submit a letter of resignation to the presidential office before the president returns home and help the president make a decision.

Prime Minister Lee might be concerned that he would be seen admitting the suspicion if he steps down at a time when the suspicion is not resolved. In addition, he seems that it is not right for him to resign during the president’s absence. However, he could be seen more responsible and keep his honor by delivering his intention to resign and managing national affairs until President Park returns on April 27 and makes a decision on his resignation. Hopefully, Prime Minister Lee could recall the day when he voluntarily resigned from the position of the floor leader of the Saenuri Party because a bill failed to pass the National Assembly in September last year and take the responsibility for the current situation.