[EDITORIALS]Best Advice: Listen to the People

Over the Chuseok holidays, the members of the National Assembly, both the ruling and opposition parties, had a chance to hear what the people think about current issues. The lawmakers surely heard people talk cynically about the Lee Yong-ho scandal and speak in utter bewilderment at the way that Ahn Jung-nam, the former construction and transportation minister, accumulated his wealth. Based on the people's mood, the Millennium Democratic Party worried more than last year because the volume of complaints by citizens was so large that the foundation of the administration would shake and even be in a crisis. The Grand National Party likely heard similar complaints that the lawmakers are only fighting one another for political points even though the national economic situation is in bad shape. The Blue House, the ruling and opposition parties should realize that they cannot avoid keeping the government from drifting and overcome the current political confrontation if they do not take extraordinary measures.

Any measures taken should begin with prioritizing the problems, which are causing the current confusion in the political landscape, as well as weighing their importance. The focus of the measures should be on a through investigation into the Lee Yong-ho scandal. However, the people say that the special audit team of the prosecution, which was originally set up for shedding light on their own faults in the scandal, is not trustworthy and slow in its investigation. The investigation of officials from the National Intelligence Service and the police has also not brought much satisfaction. Most people think that it is because of the weak will of the government, although the way the crimes were committed is complicated. That is why the most people want to confirm the will of President Kim Dae-jung to decisively root out the corrupted parts.

The Millennium Democratic Party should foster an atmosphere where the prosecution can clear up all the suspicions regarding the Lee Yong-ho scandal, making it unnecessary to introduce an independent counsel. The opposition parties need to wait to see the prosecution's will to investigate, and the results. Meanwhile, both parties should try their best to come up with alternatives to recover the economy. That is the public opinion we heard over the Chuseok holidays.