[EDITORIALS]An apology is in order

The National Assembly has been crippled for more than 10 days. Yet the provoker of this situation, Prime Minister Lee Hai-chan, is not changing his firm attitude, nor is he showing remorse. It is as if Mr. Lee is provoking the Grand National Party on purpose. The new fiscal year’s budget and many other bills are awaiting the National Assembly’s deliberation yet the legislators are showing no signs of proceeding. The Blue House and the governing party must step forward to untie this knot.
It is not proper to ask the Grand National Party to bow their heads and come back to the National Assembly after having been insulted and censured by the prime minister. The offender is expected to take the first step toward reconciliation. The present government and the governing party have the responsibility of running the country, and they also have control of both the executive and legislative branches. Yet all the Blue House has done so far is to issue a statement that the prime minister’s comments were political and therefore not grounds for dismissal.
Other than that, the Blue House has turned a blind eye to the situation. The problem right now is not the remarks of Lee Hai-chan the politician but of Lee Hai-chan the prime minister. So long as the president appoints the prime minister, it is the president’s responsibility to judge whether the prime minister’s comments are appropriate or not. And yet the Blue House is showing a completely insincere and irresponsible attitude.
If the Blue House is not doing its duty, then the governing party should step up to pacify the situation. Politics would dictate that the Uri Party should offer the Grand National Party a minimal reason to return to the National Assembly. It should persuade Prime Minister Lee to apologize. But nowhere are there signs of the party leadership working to resolve the situation. This shows the poverty of politics in the governing party.
It is also incomprehensible how Mr. Lee has held out for so long. His comment that “If the Grand National Party takes power, history will go backward” was an insult not only to the party but to the supporters of the party as well.
It is only proper for Prime Minister Lee to apologize. The side that started the problem should solve it as well. The apology should not be ambiguous with conditionality but a sincere one from the heart.