The media and political parties are overreacting to every word uttered by the visiting U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, collectively trying to make his 2017 presidential bid a foregone conclusion.
In a forum on Jeju Island, Wednesday, Ban only repeated that he would consider what he would do after he serves out his second term at the U.N. at the end of this year, but virtually all media outlets reported the 73-year-old former foreign minister “indicated” his willingness to run for the highest office of the nation. The political parties took a step further to act as if his running was a fact ― the opposition critically reacting to Ban, who is expected to be the ruling party’s candidate, if and when he decides to stand. He clarified his remarks taken out of proportion but it had no effect.
This political and media frenzy is not desirable and Ban’s wish to let him devote himself to the job until his last day in office should be respected for two reasons.
First, Ban is moving toward the end of his term and is facing scrutiny about his performance. Already, one magazine called him one of the worst U.N. secretary generals. Being distracted by speculation about his potential presidential bid, ― a domestic issue ― won’t do any good for Ban, who is doing a job for the world as “one of us,” as a representative of Korea and Asia.
Some may argue that Ban should be subject to the same rigorous checks as others in his position to enable the voters to judge whether he is fit to be president, but that can wait since the next presidential election is scheduled for December 2017.
Besides, Ban as a lifetime bureaucrat and public figure has been under constant scrutiny, so the chance is he would require far less time than other candidates hailing from the political or business communities to be checked out for any flaws.
Second and perhaps more importantly, it is time to set up a new political culture by which one’s privacy and the right to equivocate about his or her political ambitions should be respected. As Ban said, a decision for his bid should also be based on consultations with his family, who would be put under as close public examination as Ban would be. Often, those aspiring to attain high public office fold their hope of serving the people because of excessive pressure applied to their family. This forces talented people to have second thoughts and forgo their bid, thus boomeranging back to us as the absence of qualified leaders. Of course, this is no easy pass for Ban; but requires a little more patient and thoughtful approach by those who are responsible for vetting him.