[EDITORIALS]Cleaner, but not clean enough

The voter turnout rate in the 17th National Assembly election was higher that that of the 16th. It means that the elections attracted a high level of attention from the people. It cannot be interpreted, however, as a token of encouragement and cheer of the people when we look back on politics enfolded in the 16th Assembly. Rather, it is proper to see this as people’s reprimand and demand for a change. Politicians must take the people’s will expressed by the elections seriously.
At the same time, the elections this time have shown us rays of hope. The most typical is the fact that the vices of the past, elections dominated by money and the number of people mobilized, have been drastically reduced. It can be said that the elections this time were the cleanest in our election history. A new system of casting two votes per voter, one for the candidate and the other for the party of one’s choice, was settled smoothly. As a significant number of candidates were replaced by new faces, the political community has experienced a generational change. It is also significant that a large number of women won seats in the Assembly.
It is regrettable, however, that spreading black propaganda and personal invective through the Internet has increased greatly. There were cases of repeating the old vices of giving money and providing entertainment in the last stage of the campaign. It shows how difficult it is to accomplish political reform and change old practices overnight. We have to continue improvement efforts by renewing our determination day after day.
We regret that competition was not focused on the platforms of the candidates’ parties and personal abilities, but on emotion-charged political events and performances. To correct this, the chances of contact between candidates and voters must be expanded. On the question of unfair media reports and populist manipulation of people’s participation, it is necessary to improve.
The task left is for the politicians to reflect the will of the people in state affairs and legislation. Strict and fair execution of law is imperative. If the standard of punishment of election law violations by the ruling party is different from that of the opposition, political reform will be nothing but empty words.