[EDITORIALS]Political stupidity

Home > Opinion > Editorials

print dictionary print

[EDITORIALS]Political stupidity

President Roh Moo-hyun’s press conference scheduled for today will be a watershed in the nation’s political turmoil. The Blue House explained that the press conference will allow Mr. Roh to state his case after the prosecution’s announcement of its interim results in its investigation into illegal political funds in the 2002 presidential campaign.
The president should also address his violation of election law and his “one-tenth” comment. He should apologize to the public and to the opposition party and pledge that there will be no more violations of election law. He should also apologize for the “one-tenth” remark and withdraw it. That is the only way he can stop a major political catastrophe.
This is not the time to quibble over words. The governing camp’s argument that the opposition should not have submitted the impeachment resolution if an apology would suffice is foolish. There is no denying that Mr. Roh provided the grounds for impeachment. Article 65 of the Constitution says that a government official is subject to impeachment if he violates the constitution or laws in his line of duty. The governing camp, the administration and Our Open Party should not lash out at the opposition by dubbing Mr. Roh’s violation of election law a “slight one, even if we were to qualify it as a violation.” Nor should they have made accusations that the opposition was trying to grab power.
If the administration and ruling party maintain their proud obstinacy, something will smell suspicious. Are they looking for a political confrontation over the impeachment resolution? If so, that is holding the voters hostage to their election strategy.
The opposition had its say on Wednesday with a press conference by the heads of the two major parties. They should work toward a solution.
If the governing and opposition parties continue this war of nerves, it is not hard to predict the outcome. If an Assembly vote should not take place because of Our Open Party’s physical blockade, the partisan divide will continue and even deepen well after the April 15 National Assembly elections.
If voting does take place, chaos will reign. Both the president and the opposition should think seriously before taking their final steps and find a compromise.
Log in to Twitter or Facebook account to connect
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
help-image Social comment?
s
lock icon

To write comments, please log in to one of the accounts.

Standards Board Policy (0/250자)