Ruling Party Is Effective Now, but at What Price?

The ruling Millennium Democratic Party has passed its version of the Human Rights Act, and deterred the opposition Grand National Party proposal to oust Prime Minister Lee Han-dong; but it has done all this at a cost of creating great internal discord.

Younger ruling party lawmakers on Thursday openly called for the resignation of the leaders of the party's Supreme Council because of their inability to create a consensus between ruling party lawmakers and their coalition partners from the United Liberal Democrats and the Democratic People's Party on April 30.

"The leadership could have openly asked them all to vote in favor of keeping Prime Minister Lee, rather than employing an obscure parliamentary tactic," said Rep. Hahm Seung-hee.

The ruling party leadership on Monday divided legislators into voting, non-voting and abstaining lawmakers to ensure blockage of the no-confidence proposal.

As a result, 99 of the 137 representatives of the ruling coalition abstained from the vote.

"Things have come to this because the government lost the public trust when it did not dismiss Lee Moo-young," said Rep. Chyung Dai-chul, a member of the Supreme Council, referring to the embattled commissioner-general of the National Police Agency.

"The situation calls for a 'sunshine policy' between ruling and opposition camps, and between the Cholla and Kyongsang provinces," he said.

But the party leadership seems bent on pressing ahead with its hard-line tactics in the face of internal dissent and eroding public trust for the party.

Observers said if the party decides to field its presidential candidate for the 2002 elections early, as Kim Joong-kwon, the party chairman hinted Wednesday, it could serve to unify the party and give candidates in local elections someone to rally behind for the June 2002 local races.

by Kim Chong-hyuk