&#91EDITORIALS&#93New party, old politics

Some Millennium Democratic Party lawmakers are behaving irresponsibly. Although they won their seats because of Korea’s proportional representation system, which gives additional seats in the Assembly based on their party’s results at the polls, they have been active in the move to form a new party.
They are staying in the party because they would lose their seats if they left.
While their minds are on the new party, they remain Millennium Democrats on paper. Such hypocritical behavior is typical of the old politics, and deserves condemnation.
There are seven MDP lawmakers involved: Lee Jae-joung, Park Yang-soo, Lee Mi-kyung, Huh Un-na, Cho Bae-sook, Oh Young-sick and Kim Ki-jai. They have played leading roles in the work for a new party, providing strategies, public relations and ideological contributions, and have participated continuously in the planning. They say their withdrawal from the MDP will be decided by the new party. Of course, it is not required that proportional representatives always follow their party’s orders, but they do their reputations no good by sticking with a party whose basic political beliefs are different from theirs.
The new party’s behavior is not dignified, either. After the floor leaders’ meeting, the party announced that the seven would leave the party after the Assembly’s inspection of the administration and the budget deliberations, since they have paid attention to and prepared for the inspection.” If that work is so important, why was the new party’s formation given a higher importance? Is there any reason that the inspection would be harmed without them? The party’s tactic may be to leave them as a friendly group within the ruling party, because they are more useful when they keep their Assembly seats than being former lawmakers.
The new party, which says it stands for reform, will lose its following if it sticks to these old political ways. It seems eager to keep vested interests while asking others to give them up.
As politicians, they should make their position clear as a courtesy to the people.