ed Park's boss politics

Power struggle at top threatens to reverse democracy clock

Combine President Park Geun-hye’s high popularity and her strong hold on the ruling majority Saenuri Party with the weak main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy and it makes for one person’s dominance that defies the democratic rule of the separation of powers and takes the nation on an anachronistic trip to the era of boss politics.

Above all, an excessive concentration of power hurts the rule of law, the basic tenet of the democratic process. Of course, our democracy is mature enough not to allow the return of the long-running period of strongman’s rule that started in the early 1960s and stretched into the 1980s, but it is every citizen’s duty to remind himself that complacence eats insidiously into the roots of democracy and stand guard against any deviations.

It does not mean that we take sides with one party against the other in the ongoing tit-for-tat pitting President Park against Saenuri leader Kim Moo-sung over the format of selecting the party’s nominees for general elections slated for April.

Irrespective of who emerges the winner, the fight should be concluded in a way that respects the authority of ― and preserves the power of ― the legislature.

For that, President Park should stop trying to control the nomination process and live up to her 2012 campaign pledge to let perspective voters decide the nominees of given constituencies.

The Park-Kim fight flared up as Kim failed to introduce the U.S. style of open primaries and made an agreement with NPAD leader Moon Jae-in to introduce nominee selections by a new call-in poll from the public during the Chuseok holiday before Park returned home from her U.S. trip. Cheong Wa Dae called foul, arguing that it was not consulted, so the agreement was null and void. Kim’s move followed rumbles caused by his rebuttal of the “strategic appointment” of nominees pushed by Park’s confidants. Kim, a potential candidate for the 2017 presidential election, saw it as the President’s attempt to call the shots in the nomination process and, by extension, influence the designation of the party’s standard bearer.

The latest party-Cheong Wa Dae clash comes after two developments. During a trip to her power base of Daegu last month, she invited none of the incumbent Saenuri lawmakers, triggering rumors that she wanted to replace them with her favorites in the general elections. Saenuri represents all 12 Daegu constituencies and nominees with the party nomination are expected to be shoo-ins.

In early July, floor leader Yoo Seung-min had to resign with a deep bow in apology to Park. Yoo agreed with opposition leader Moon over the civil pension plan reform and the National Assembly Law. The bone of contention was the inclusion of a clause that enables the legislature to call more strongly for a revision of government-initiated legislation. Cheong Wa Dae criticized it as an act to encroach on executive power, while Park threatened to veto it and called Yoo a traitor. Kim, the party leader, helped persuade Yoo to step down.

The President may face stiffer resistance because at stake are all-important nomination rights. If Park gets her way, it means that her supporters will get nominated, and vice versa. The past is certainly a guide, showing the previous presidents turned into lame ducks as soon as they let go of the nomination rights. Park herself took command of the party with the nominating power, sending then President Lee Myung-bak into political oblivion.

Now, we believe that Park and Kim should work to turn this ongoing row into a chance to enrich the nation’s democratic legacy through dialogue on the spirit of justice and compromise. The nation has come so far from its days of tyranny by military rulers that spawned backroom deals among political bosses. The transformation was made possible by sacrifice by martyrs sometimes and often by ceaseless runs of trials and errors. No mercy should be shown on attempts to go back.