[EDITORIALS]Roh is a divider, not a uniter

President Roh Moo-hyun and the Uri Party are constantly talking about the Yushin Constitution, which was enacted in 1972 by President Park Chung Hee, father of Grand National Party chairwoman Park Geun-hye. Under the constitution, Mr. Park was granted unlimited tenure in office.
Yesterday in Gwangju, President Roh said in a speech that the country can either go back to the days of Yushin or move forward into the future. He made it sound as if our country is in danger of reverting to the days of the Yushin Constitution.
A couple days ago, the president said he was ashamed that when people were imprisoned for fighting against the Yushin Constitution, he was studying for his bar exam. The comments coming from the Uri Party are even more aggressive. The party has dubbed the Grand National Party chairwoman “the daughter of the Yushin Constitution,” or “the first lady of the Yushin Constitution.”
Democracy has set its roots for more than a decade, so why is the president at the forefront in raising this issue? Is our society really going back to the days of the Yushin Constitution? At this point, no one in our country is supporting the Yushin Constitution or is saying that it was a good thing.
Under such circumstances, using the past to keep attacking someone is a purely political act. The move is designed to project an image that links the Yushin Constitution with the GNP and its leader. If Park Geun-hye had not been the daughter of Park Chung-hee, none of this would have happened.
The president and the governing party look like people who just don’t have anything else better to do than rattling our country. Looking at recent incidents such as the activities of the Presidential Truth Commission on Suspicious Deaths, one has to ask whether creating so much fuss and confusion in our country is necessary. Our country is not exactly on an optimal course, with a sluggish economy and societal divisions deeper than ever.
To argue with the opposition party should not be the main task. The president has to be above that and must be able to unify everyone. He has to make the country richer and more peaceful. He should not take the country backwards.
President Roh said yesterday that the key to Korea’s democracy is resolving friction in society. He should show how to solve the conflicts with the opposition party.