[EDITORIALS]Economy remains public’s focus

During this Lunar New Year holiday, most lawmakers made visits to their respective districts. It was a valuable opportunity for them to gain knowledge of the current public sentiment so they can reflect on various policies. Never has there been period when citizens showed such intensive interest in the economic situation as this year’s Lunar New Year.
Therefore, it is essential that the political parties take a serious stance in substantially reflecting the public’s opinion in its policies.
Thankfully, they seemed to have recognized the people’s interest in the economy, as they have stopped distributing brochures criticizing other parties; a common practice in previous years. Instead, lawmakers, their pens in hand, were busy jotting down what the people had to say.
According to the legislators, the overall public sentiment during the holiday season was far from positive, a direct result of the economic slowdown. Naturally, there was a slight difference in recognizing the seriousness of the current situation depending on the region or political party of the representatives.
While Grand National Party members insisted that the current situation was the worst possible, those from the ruling Uri Party commented that the overall picture was slowly improving.
There was, however, no disagreement in the people’s request for politicians to concentrate their efforts on the economy, regardless of political party. One lawmaker reflected that he received hardly any personal or regional appeals because everyone he met talked about the economy.
Politicians also said that they received many warnings telling them to stop the unproductive political strife for the sake of the economy.
They should keep in mind the requests made by voters to quit clinging to issues such as the National Security Law and the nation’s past that don’t have a direct relation to the everyday lives of people, and the demand to abstain from any discussion about the next presidential elections.
The public opinion during this Lunar New Year can be summarized as a request for legislators to return to practical politics and concentrate their efforts on breathing life back into the economy.
Now the problem is turning the public’s requests into action. If the voice of people is again neglected, public opinion will turn into public fury.