[EDITORIALS]Uri Party is Roh’s lapdog

The governing Uri Party’s development of major policies is riding on the words of President Roh Moo-hyun. There is even a cynical pun circulating based on the old saying, “A husband leads and a wife follows,” with critics saying, “The Blue House leads and the governing party follows.” Uri lawmakers a while ago raised their voices saying, “Separation of the party and politics must be reconsidered,” and we are left to wonder if that was all for show. The ramshackle performance of the governing party, which holds the biggest number of seats at the National Assembly, just four seats short of a majority, is disappointing.
There are more than enough examples. Members of the governing party who called for the rebuke of the defense minister ate their words after a comment from Mr. Roh described the minister as “the right person for national defense reform.” After the president labeled Seoul National University’s plan to include essay tests in its admission policy as the “bad news of the week,” the governing party moved forward saying, “[We] will have Seoul National University cancel the plan even if that means an all-out war.”
When the president spoke of his plan to consider a coalition government, governing party members, who used to show determination against a political merger, remained silent.
Whether it’s the reformist faction or pragmatist faction in the governing party, it’s all the same ― the governing party is busy lining up with the president.
This is no different from the “yes-machine” governing parties during the military regimes. When they act exactly the same as others in the past, their cries for breaking away from the past become nothing but a feast of words.
Under the presidential government system, the governing party needs to back up the government. But it also bears the responsibility to deliver the will of the people if there is a problem in the direction of the administration and the use of its authority, while making efforts to correct it. This is what the people who gave the governing party 146 seats at the National Assembly wanted.
As the governing party is neglecting to do this and instead is blaming the opposition parties and the press, its grip on the National Assembly will only erode further with the passage of time.