Political Instability
Politicians Must Reform Themselves to Regain Public Trust
A World Bank report reminds South Koreans that they live in worsening political stability. The Washington-based development bank said Tuesday that Korea’s political stability deteriorated as the index fell to 0.42 last year from 0.55 in 2005. The main reason for the decline was attributed to escalating conflicts between pro-government and opposition political parties.
People are well aware that politicians of the pro-government Uri Party and the main opposition Grand National Party (GNP) have gone to extremes in their partisan confrontation. The public had harbored hopes that President Roh Moo-hyun would initiate a paradigm shift in outdated political culture to stimulate people into active participation in politics and promote national harmony. Many voters cast ballots for Roh in the 2002 presidential election attracted by his fresh image and reform-minded character.
However, Roh has failed to meet the public aspiration for political reform to usher in a new era of clean politics, fair competition, and reconciliation and harmony with opposition parties. He has simply tainted his image as a reform-oriented politician who did not come from the political mainstream that is teemed with corruption, skullduggery, demagoguery, factionalism, intransigence and confrontation.
In particular, the President’s arrogant and self-righteous leadership style has generated political conflicts not only within his own party but also with opposition parties. One of the most striking examples of political instability was the 2004 presidential impeachment initiated by Roh’s rival parties. He won the impeachment trial at the Constitutional Court. And voters brought a sweeping victory to the Uri Party in the previous general elections in hopes for political stability. But Roh and his party disappointed the public by unilaterally pushing for many controversial policies, including the relocation of government ministries to the new administrative town in Yeongi-Gongju.
Taking office in February 2003, Roh called his administration the ``Participatory Government.’’ However, he has made little progress in encouraging the people’s participation due to his statecraft based on confrontation rather than compromise. He once stressed that he would discard authoritarianism, while elevating the authority of the head of state. In reality, Roh appears to resort more to authoritarianism at the expense of his authority. Thus, the people are now suffering from Roh fatigue.
The Chief Executive has recently spearheaded a smear campaign against the GNP and its two presidential contenders _ former Seoul Mayor Lee Myung-bak and former party Chairwoman Park Geun-hye. His slandering remarks against Lee and Park have forced the nation’s election watchdog to issue two warnings against him for violating the law stipulating the President’s political neutrality in elections. Uri Party lawmakers have fired salvoes against the two GNP frontrunners, keeping up their slandering efforts to discredit Lee and Park.
The conservative opposition GNP is no better than Roh and the Uri Party. Lee and Park have engaged in mudslinging campaigns against each other in the lead-up to the party’s August primary race. The public is fed up with all the dirty political games played by Roh and lawmakers of the Uri Party and the GNP. They should remember that politics is one of the most dilapidated sectors of South Korea. Now, it’s time for them to reform themselves to regain public trust.