Giant mistakes

The Grand National Party seems too weak for a majority party that occupies 172 seats in the National Assembly. The party is the first giant ruling party since the Democratic Liberal Party in 1990 but the party’s behavior is not in keeping with its status.

Party members try to spin a quick fix as a significant success and the party’s policies are not consistent.

The worst incident so far concerns a suggestion for a special envoy to North Korea. After the party’s spokesperson announced that Chairman Park Hee-tae would suggest sending a special envoy to the North, a rumor swirled that Park Geun-hye would be appointed.

But as President Lee Myung-bak seemed negative about the idea, the party’s chairman backtracked, saying he never made the suggestion.

In any case, it is not right that a victim talks about sending an envoy while the wrongdoer ? the North ? remains silent.

Another problem is that the party focuses on such an important issue without consulting the Blue House. Whether the chairman changed his mind or words or whether the spokesperson made a mistake is immaterial: The incident shows the party’s true face.

National Assembly Speaker Kim Hyong-o suggested a meeting of lawmakers from the South and the North, while Floor Leader Hong Joon-pyo suggested a political meeting between the two Koreas.

These suggestions were inappropriate and were made without discussion with the opposition parties.

The GNP members appear to lack principles and are thoughtless. During the row over U.S. beef imports, the government stuck to a plan to have supplementary negotiations, while the GNP was cornered by candlelight vigils and shouted for renegotiation.

Meanwhile, the chairman of the GNP’s first policy mediation committee suggested the other day that subsidies for a political party should be reduced if the GNP boycotts the National Assembly and that the act of occupying the main conference hall and the speaker’s seat in the National Assembly should be banned. Yet the GNP had also made a habit of boycotting the National Assembly when it was the opposition party.

The GNP has probably forgotten how to run state affairs as it took power after 10 years as the opposition.

If the party continues to act improperly, the people who gave the party a majority in the National Assembly will eventually lose faith.