More election interference

President Roh Moo-hyun has again made a remark to intervene in the election.
He did so by disclosing a questionnaire list on Wednesday saying that this was what he sent to the National Election Commission. But the aftershock of his action was as powerful as that of a press conference or a presidential speech, because there is no media in this country that does not report about the current president’s actions. The content of the questionnaire pushed the envelope further than when the election watchdog had to warn him of when he made a political remark during two speeches in June. This time, he said, “Lee Myung-bak’s claim that the Blue House is behind a political scheme is a petty political attack trying to deceive the public.”
The National Election Commission said it already replied to the inquiry by saying the Blue House should make reference to the Article 9 and the Article 254 of the election law as well as the decisions that the Constitutional and the Supreme courts have made in the past for an answer. In other words, the commission had in fact made a judgment that the content of the inquiry violated the election law.
But the Blue House disclosed the inquiry anyway, saying that the commission had refused to give it an answer.
Blue House spokesman Cheon Ho-seon said, “Since the election commission had refused to answer us, this means it’s up to the president now to decide what he is going to say.” He might as well have waged a war against the election commission.
How can an incumbent president be so childish and choose to disclose an inquiry that it sent to the commission for a legal judgment?
His childish action started last month when he said, “If I ever say, ‘People who attack me for creating a political scheme lack morality,’ or, ‘He is not qualified to become a president,’ which I have the right to say, people will still go berserk that I said that.”
President Roh filed a constitutional petition as an individual. It’s part of his plan to keep creating controversial problems while ignoring election law.
But the election commission sent a letter to the Constitutional Court asking it to reject Roh’s petition. The commission also said it will examine whether Roh’s inquiry violated the election law again.
The National Election Commission is now doing its job. If it does not take a stern position, it will be hard to manage the elections. Who would obey the law that the president keeps on ignoring?