[EDITORIAL]Fancy package is empty

The government and the governing Uri Party have suggested the formation of a neutral cabinet. Yesterday, when the National Assembly questioned Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook, she said she had talked with the president about the matter and that she would suggest it to the president if the ruling and opposition parties joined in making that proposal.
That was the answer to suggestions by opposition party lawmakers. Grand National Party chairman Kang Jae-sup suggested the formation of a cabinet with people who are manager-types equipped with professional skills and knowledge but politically neutral. However, that is only a fancy package with nothing substantial in it.
The Grand National Party demands that President Roh Moo-hyun resign from politics and leave the job of managing the administration to neutral experts. Grand National lawmakers who questioned ministers yesterday demanded Mr. Roh’s resignation. Meanwhile, Mr. Roh’s side demands that opposition parties support its policies and share responsibility. Yoon Tae-young, the Blue House spokesman, talked about preconditions, which include appointing Jeon Hyo-sook as chief of the Constitutional Court and opposition parties’ cooperation on government-led reforms.
When listening to the explanations by Mr. Yoon, it is confusing why a neutral cabinet is needed. The purpose seems to be that opposition parties cooperate on issues that the public resists and share responsibility in return for having some ministry seats.
The private school law is one of four reforms that former Uri chairman Chung Dong-young cited as a reason for the failure of the governing party. If it has a genuine intent to form a neutral cabinet, there should be no preconditions. All it needs to do is to repair the policies that have failed so far. At the National Assembly, even ruling party members said the real estate policy, education policy, youth unemployment, insecurity of jobs and the plan to transfer the capital, on top of the four reform bills, had failed.
The administration has around one year left in its term. There is not much time to work. It should manage the country in a stable way, instead of shaking it up. To do so, the administration should no longer intervene in politics. It should replace newly-employed top officials for foreign affairs and national security who have been hired against public opinion with neutral experts. That is the right way to gain cooperation from the opposition parties.