By Kim Hyo-jin
Opposition parties have shown reservations about forming a Cabinet including opposition figures amid the snowballing scandal over the President’s confidant and her alleged interference in state affairs, Monday.
They dismissed the Saenuri’s call for a bipartisan Cabinet as a move designed to turn the tables in their favor.
Rep. Choo Mi-ae, the chairwoman of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), claimed that the priority should be placed on the thorough investigation of the scandal involving Park’s longtime confidant Choi Soon-sil.
“The formation of a neutral Cabinet should be preceded by an exhaustive investigation of the influence-peddling scandal,” she said during a party meeting.
“Such a Cabinet would be degraded into being mere figureheads while the authority to manage state affairs is still in the President’s hands.”
Echoing her view, Rep. Park Jie-won, interim leader of the minor opposition People’s Party, stressed that a full-scale probe into the Choi scandal and Park’s relinquishing of the ruling party membership should come first before discussing a bipartisan Cabinet.
“With Park keeping her party membership, appointment of Cabinet members would look like she is seeking to allure them to join Saenuri Party,” Park said.
Their remarks came after the ruling Saenuri Party urged President Park Geun-hye to include figures designated by opposition parties in the Cabinet, Sunday, amid the public outcry.
The call came as the ruling bloc has been reeling from the scandal that Park’s longtime confidant Choi has interfered in state affairs despite holding no official post.
Saenuri Party floor leader Chung Jin-suk expressed strong discontent with the opposition’s decision to postpone discussing the matter.
“We made the call to settle the situation by having neutral figures who will manage state affairs supported by rival parties. But opposition parties are only focusing on a political offensive taking the national crisis into hostage,” Chung said in a meeting with his opposition counterparts.
The meeting accompanying National Assembly Speaker Chung Sye-kyun was arranged to seek plans to normalize the situation but it ended in less than ten minutes after Chung walked out of the venue after criticizing the opposition’s stance over a bipartisan Cabinet.