[EDITORIALS]Get with it, GNP

What is the Grand National Party doing right now? many people ask. The leading opposition party is repeating mistakes and is stumbling along enough to make the people worry. Instead of taking what they have been given, the Grand Nationals are suffering from serious interparty conflicts. The GNP President Lee Hoi-Chang, once heady with the rosy outlook of his possible presidential victory, is now reeling under heavy blows of a series of scandals inside and outside of the party. As Mr. Lee's approval rating rapidly plummets, the Grand National Party floats adrift in the political arena, staging a lamentable scene. The condition of the opposition party is completely different from that of the ruling Millennium Democratic Party, which has been recouping its losses caused by a series of defeats in the recent local elections and corruption scandals with eye-catching primaries.

We are not talking about the Grand National Party's poor progress in the presidential race. There is no need for such a discussion. We are criticizing the Grand Nationals because they failed to function properly as the majority party in the National Assembly. We are disparaging the party because it failed to provide fair criticism and feasible alternatives for the ruling party and the government's policies.

If the opposition party has failed to fulfill its role of the core in the national governance because of its internal strife and disorder, that is nothing more than a betrayal of the people. Who can possibly trust a political party that cannot unite its own lawmakers, but repeats slanders and vicissitudes on alignment within the party? In order to clear away the people's doubt, the Grand Nationals need a drastic reform to promote democracy inside the party. If the Grand Nationals were blinded by small gains in front of them and postponed real reform, they are jeopardizing the party's future, the presidential race in particular.

Establishing a system that the public will support and stabilizing the party affairs are urgent not only for the Grand National Party itself but also for the betterment of the nation's politics. The opposition party should understand that using its energy to help the national governance as this administration's term nears an end, rather than wasting it in mere political battles, will ensure it the victory in the presidential election.