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[EDITORIALS]Common sense wins

Published: 04 Dec. 2003, 00:37

In a JoongAng Ilbo poll, whose results were announced yesterday, the Millennium Democratic Party took the lead in voter approval among those surveyed. That is suggestive of what kind of politics our people want. After the launching of Our Open Party, the Millennium Democratic Party was thought to be at a crisis point; in the survey, however, the Millennium Democratic Party nosed out the Grand National Party, the majority party in the National Assembly, although the difference between the two parties lies within the margin of error of the survey. Compared to Our Open Party, the ruling party in the sense that it supports the president, the Millennium Democrats were favored by twice as many people.
Some politicians say this is just a reaction to recent news about the party’s convention. Of course, Chough Soon-hyung’s personal reputation as “Mr. Nasty Mouth” must have had an effect; a party’s leaders can influence party popularity greatly. Even so, the Millennium Democrats also have dealt with the current affairs wisely. They coped with the situation to win the favor of the people.
The people showed their distaste for the Grand Nationals’ political posturing, setting aside the budget review and livelihood issues in the Assembly to play games. This is no advance from the old-fashioned ways of opposition parties in the past. Asked about Choe Byung-yul’s hunger strike, three-quarters of the surveyed voters said, “He’s doing wrong,” a clear complaint against obsolete political ways. People also gave a good scolding to President Roh Moo-hyun’s suggestion of a vote of confidence and disapproved of his veto of special counsel legislation. Those polled also disapproved of politicians’ roadblocks to campaign fund investigations.
In short, the Millennium Democrats remained most true to the people’s hearts. In the world of politics, great causes are usually in fact partisan interests. Considering that the purpose of a political party is to win office, that is natural enough. But political tactics must be founded on what the people see as common sense, a thought confirmed by this survey.