&#91EDITORIALS&#93Power down, fellas

In the presidential transition committee, the passion for renovation and change is overwhelming. The committee's ideas for reform are unprecedented.

Some of the ideas provide fresh impressions, but they provide just as much uneasiness as well. The sensitive issue of jaebeol reform has been publicized without being coordinated within the committee. Public worry about this uneasiness is growing. The driving force of the team is young scholars and Roh Moo-hyun's close aides, most in their 30s. This has triggered criticism that the committee is trying to transfer academic theories into government policies. Some people even suspect there are committee members who think they have extra constitutional rights.

Such noise and confusion derive from the overenthusiasm of some team members and from the overheated competition of the news media. After all, the image of the committee has changed from one of reform and renovation to one of alienation from reality and absence of teamwork. In order to keep the competitive and effective image of the committee, a negative evaluation should be eliminated. The spokesman for the committee, Jung Soon-kyun, said, "The transition committee does not provide a cure-all." His thinking is fine for the future of this group.

Mr. Roh has defined the function of the committee to not be the transfer of power but a transition of government policy. What is important is whether the policies and visions of the committee are practical. People ask that the team give priority to government policies according to their urgency and importance, instead of trying to cook up policies, as if in a classroom. The transition committee is not there to dominate the administration. "This is not a transfer of power" is an expression that worries us, and repeating it echoes the boasting of five years ago when President Kim Dae-jung's team behaved as if they were running the nation. Compared to the transition periods of former presidents, the national consensus about reform is relatively low. But people's expectations for this team to lead reform are higher. The committee should work out methods of change with a passion, while keeping the power switch on low.