ed Korea needs Trump
Guess who has been ignored in party nominations
As the political parties were winding down their nomination processes for the April 13 parliamentary general elections, one thing was clear: voters again find themselves at the bottom of the priorities’ lists of the ruling Saenuri Party or the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea (MPK).
Few would have expected the situation to come to this hopeless point. Simply put, serious thought should be given to the unthinkable ― import Donald Trump from the U.S. to whip up the status quo. By all appearances, the chance is that somebody like him appears to be long overdue in Korean politics, which needs to cure its chronic illnesses such as feudalism, big egos and sleight of hand.
After all, peeling away layers of vulgarity and puerility, what boils down to the Trump phenomenon is a popular rebellion against the establishment that, here and in the U.S., has been engrossed in self-preservation and self-interest.
For starters, Saenuri has not just delivered on its promise to reflect the public’s strong desires for change by introducing a bottom-up nomination or a “closed primary” in which candidates are to be selected through a survey of supporters.
Out of 249 elected constituencies, 141 were contested; 96 filled by the party’s unilateral candidates and the rest were for minorities. The slogan of change was put to shame as more than eight out of 10 incumbents prevailed. The outgoing 19th National Assembly they belong to is regarded as one of the most dysfunctional.
The politics of vendetta unfolded in a tug of war between Yoo Seung-min, former floor leader, and the party’s nominating committee standing for President Park Geun-hye. Yoo’s nomination was undecided until the last day of the March 23 candidacy registration deadline, due to the obscure and ill-defined criteria by which Yoo apparently does not fit the party line.
But his real crime was raising the wrath of President Park, who called Yoo a “traitor” for objecting to her welfare policy.
In Daegu, the power base of Yoo and President Park, only two out of 12 incumbents gained the party’s nod, except for Yoo, proving that boss politics are stronger than ever.
It was not much different for the MPK. During pre-election, loyalists of former President Roh Moo-hyun and those who owe their allegiance to former President Kim Dae-jung fought tooth and claw, with some of the latter faction bolting from the party.
Kim Chong-in, a distribution-oriented economist who supported President Park’s campaign and then was ditched, was scouted by the outgoing party chief, Moon Jae-in. Kim appeared to bring the party under control, helping it regain a sense of balance, but he also raised eyebrows by giving himself the plum No. 1 spot in the list of non-elected proportional lawmakers.
The party’s stalwarts first tried to force Kim to retract his decision but ended up apologizing to him, offering him the same privileged number and rights for several nominees. Kim’s act appeared first to be an act of greed in a show of determination not to be forsaken like he was by President Park without being compensated for his efforts. Now, rumors are that he was acting with the support of Roh loyalists in a conspiracy to retain control of the party after the election.
The politicians have not gotten the message that they are a hurdle to, not a catalyst of change. As with anything else, if they do not fix themselves, somebody else should do the job. For the upcoming election, it is us, the voters’ job to teach them a lesson. Otherwise, we may have to borrow Donald Trump for a while and bring a sledgehammer to national politics for a change.