[EDITORIALS]Blue House must accept ruling

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[EDITORIALS]Blue House must accept ruling

The Blue House and the governing Uri Party have not yet announced that they will accede to the Constitutional Court’s ruling that the special law on the administrative capital move is unconstitutional. This is a serious mistake. They must publicly say, right now, that they will yield to the ruling.
Concerning the court’s use of the concept of unwritten constitutional meanings, President Roh said, “That is a theory I have never heard of.” The Blue House spokesman said, “We will comprehensively review the concerns and analysis from the issue.”
Before the ruling, Uri Party chairman Lee Bu-young had said, “Whatever the outcome is, we will accept it with modesty.” Now he says, “We never said we would respect the court’s decision.”
The party’s central committee, furthermore, said, “The court’s decision threatens the parliamentary and representative democracy of the nation.”
Such reactions from the administration and the governing party are irresponsible and dangerous, in that they shake the legal order of the nation.
The Constitutional Court is an institution that makes rulings on constitutional petitions. Its rulings are ultimate and absolute. The court’s decision is a constitutional decision; in our legal system, no body has the right to override it. Nevertheless, the administration and the party seem to be trying to overcome this ruling. We believe such an attitude could pose a real threat to democracy, and leave no option for resolving future social conflicts.
The president made an oath upon taking office, saying, “I will abide by the constitution and preserve the integrity of the nation...” The president should not forget the fact that his most important task is to defend the constitution.
In the same vein, it is very inappropriate of the Uri Party to try to legally counter the ruling. A political party has its own political tasks. It is a pity that the party is staging a constitutional struggle against the court. When the court, earlier this year, dismissed the constitutional appeal that President Roh Moo-hyun should be impeached, the party touted the ruling, calling it “a wise decision.” Denouncing the current court ruling only brings about public criticism that the party is inconsistent. The party should also note that public opinion polls support the court ruling.
The party and the administration should learn from Al Gore, the Democratic candidate of the U.S. presidential election in 2000, who accepted the Supreme Court’s ruling that his opponent, George W. Bush, had won Florida, although Mr. Gore had garnered the most votes.
The party and the administration, of course, should formulate and promote measures to realize the balanced development of the nation, localization and resolution of the overpopulation problem in the Seoul metropolitan area. But those are separate issues from accepting a court ruling. If the party and the administration attempt to override the ruling, the nation will fall into turmoil and they are the ones who will be responsible for that.
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