Back to the home front

President Lee Myung-bak will meet with the leaders of the two biggest parties in the National Assembly over lunch today. He will explain about his recent trip abroad to meet his counterparts, but this will also be a chance for him to break the political deadlock that the three sides find themselves in. Our political leaders have to open their hearts and create an environment in which the new administration can work.
Lee accomplished much more than we expected when he met with U.S. President George W. Bush. He returned after repairing the strategic alliance relationship with the U.S.
It is now time to review domestic politics. His desk is piled high with problems to solve after the recent general elections ended in dispute. His tangible tasks include whether the National Assembly will ratify the Korea-U.S. FTA, whether hearings will be held on U.S. beef imports and discussions on the revised supplementary budget, “Inno Cities” and revisions on preventing further child kidnapping and murder.
Political parties are divided on the remaining agenda, with the exception of child kidnapping, leaving the situation deadlocked.
As for intangible tasks, our lawmakers have to recover their confidence in each other. Lee once said, “I have no competitor in any of the political parties. If I had competitors, they would be presidents of countries.” He is right.
A president’s international competitiveness comes from his power to bring harmony to his country. For him to raise his competitiveness, he has to focus on strengthening cooperation and confidence among political leaders.
This is an intangible task that the president will have to overcome and the essence of what the Blue House can do with its political power. This is why he has to renew his relationship with Park Geun-hye, who is skeptical about Lee, and the United Democratic Party leadership, which thinks the prosecutor’s BBK investigation was revenge on Lee Myung-bak.
When the Grand National Party suggested that the Blue House fortify itself so that it could deal with political affairs, the party was acknowledging the importance of the role of the Blue House in recovering political confidence.
We hope that our political leaders strengthen confidence among each other so that they can talk to each other honestly and work toward mutually beneficial accomplishments.