Citizens' Groups Criticize Prime Minister Nomination

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Citizens' Groups Criticize Prime Minister Nomination

Citizens' groups, such as the Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice (CCEJ) and the Political Watch in Korea (PWK), have expressed their criticism concerning the nomination of Lee Han-dong, the president of the United Liberal Democrats (ULD), as Prime Minister on the 22nd. They said, "President Kim Dae-jung has nominated the Prime Minister for political purposes, ignoring the people's opinion and only to achieve the cooperation between the ULD and the Millennium Democratic Party (MDP)." They demamded, "We urgue a reconsideration of the nomination."

Citizens' groups also insisted that, "Hearings are necessary to thouroughly inspect President Lee's potential to act as the Prime Minister."

The CCEJ said, "Mr. Lee is a former ruling party (Grand National Party) member who has only followed the easy road of politics. He even encouraged local favorism by bringing up, 'the creation of political power in the central part of Korea' in the last (16th) general election." They pointed out, "We doubt if he can handly a wide range of arguments from the people and public officials. "

PWK said, "The ULD is a party who got a vote of nonconfidence from the people. This was clearly shown when they couldn't even form a floor negotiation body after the last general election." They criticised, "Nominating that (ULD) president as Prime Minister is an act of anti-democracy and ignores the people's opinion."

The Citizens Action Network criticised, "We cannot help but be disappointed by the fact that political interests once again became the primary concern in the nomination of the Prime Minister, especially when this second half of Presidents term carries the most important missions, such as holding the South and North Summit meeting and maintaining governmental and economic restructuring."




by Moon Kyung-ran

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