By Park Moo-jong
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Just two days ago, we chose 300 politicians as our new representatives to the National Assembly, who will lead the legislative branch, one of the three powers of the government along with the executive and judicial branches.
At the start of their four-year term May 30, they will take the oath like their predecessors did: "I do solemnly swear before the people that I shall observe the Constitution and endeavor to promote the freedom and welfare of the people and the peaceful unification of the fatherland."
They will also swear, "I will give top priority to the national interests and perform faithfully the duties of a member of the National Assembly in good conscience."
Dear lawmakers-elect, your political affiliation, either ruling or opposition parties, should not matter in your living up to your oath to place yourself at the service of the nation, namely the people, to make our society a better place to live in.
What you have to do first to become servants of the nation is take a lesson from your outgoing predecessors who are condemned as the "worst-ever" members of the National Assembly in the nation's government history as agreed upon by the people.
You also have to remember what you pledged to get the voters' support. You promised to serve the people first of all, reform the Assembly, check the administration and promote the public interests, not your own.
Many of the lawmakers of the bygone days appear to have "forgotten" what their primary job was, mainly devoting themselves to political strife only to seek their parties' and their own interests.
You have to keep in mind that the post of a lawmaker is not just an occupation to earn a living, but a sort of voluntary work endorsed by your voters. Your job is to make laws to help upgrade the public's living standards and build a safer society.
Dear lawmakers-elect! Be sure not to forget that so many people are sick of their lawmakers, wondering whether they need such an Assembly like the present one at such an astronomical cost from their taxes.
As a retired reporter who covered the Assembly for more than 10 years starting in the late 1970s, I asked many voters what the National Assembly reminded them of first.
Unfortunately, they answered in unison with negative terms such as corruption, partisan strife, absurd remarks, selfish political interests and too many privileges, instead of making laws and serving as a check and balance to the administration.
Our legislative history shows that elected politicians have been obsessed with an all-or-nothing struggle against their rivals to further their own interests and objection for the sake of objection, without agonizing over the hard reality the nation has faced.
The outgoing Assembly is the very model of such a negative organization. There was no change at all.
How about the bizarre parliamentary election law the outgoing lawmakers from the ruling party railroaded in collaboration with minor parties, excluding the main opposition party? Even though you were elected under the revised law, you ought to make it right. The ruling Democratic Party of Korea that won a surprising landslide victory in the Wednesday poll has to take the lead in putting the law onto the right path.
On top of all problems the nation has to solve as soon as possible is the ever-deteriorating economy resulting in a sharp increase in unemployment. The International Monetary Fund already predicted that the South Korean economy will contract 1.2 percent this year amid the global economic downturn prompted by the coronavirus pandemic.
The financial difficulties self-employed people and those in low-income brackets are suffering in the whirlpool of the virus outbreak and it is serious enough to call for the government to take bolder fiscal expansion moves promptly.
The incoming legislators should work out necessary bills, immediately after their inauguration, to help the needy in close cooperation with the administration, irrespective of their political affiliation.
I am afraid that all the parties will descend into factional strife to seize party hegemony like they did four years ago ― with only the presidential election slated for March 2022 in mind and without planning to serve the people. I do hope that the lawmakers-elect will not prove that old habits die hard.
The world is changing rapidly. You, elected politicians, have to change, too.
Park Moo-jong (emjei29@gmail.com) is a standing adviser of The Korea Times. He served as the president-publisher of the nation's first English daily newspaper from 2004 to 2014 after working as a reporter since 1974.
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