Going adrift indeed over the past year

Today marks one year since Rep. Lee Jae-myung took the helm of the embattled Democratic Party (DP). He was elected party leader with overwhelming support — 77.77 percent of the votes — from members of the majority party just five months after his defeat in last year’s March 9 presidential election. But his party leadership over the past year can hardly earn good scores from the public.

In his inaugural speech a year ago, Lee vowed to turn the DP into a reliable party with good policy ideas. But he went in the opposite direction. Thanks to his blind opposition to the conservative government, the DP could not pass any of the urgent bills related to people’s livelihood. Instead, the party was bent on rescuing DP lawmakers whenever controversy erupted over their suspicious activities, including one over Rep. Kim Nam-kook repeatedly trading cryptocurrency during legislative sessions. The launch of a special committee to renew the party ended with a colossal failure due to its head’s uninterrupted slips of the tongue, including her derogatory remarks about the elderly.

Lee himself was at the epicenter of the crisis of the party. After being questioned by the prosecution for a spate of allegations against him — such as over the Daejang-dong and Baekhyeon-dong redevelopment projects — four times already, he will be summoned again to answer questions about his alleged involvement in pressuring a company to send money to North Korea in return for favors. Lee denied any wrongdoings and instead accused the prosecution of trying to put him behind bars for “no reason.”

But the DP joined forces to safeguard its boss by voting against the prosecution’s request for arrest warrants for him and other lawmakers under suspicion. After his embarrassment over the DP lawmakers’ revolt in February to approve the request for his arrest, the party even closed the August provisional session earlier than scheduled so as not to repeat such an attempt next time.

Public support for the DP has plunged to the 20 percent range amid an intense battle between the pro-Lee faction and others ahead of the next parliamentary elections. Lee is attempting to turn the tables with an attack on the government for “conniving at the discharge of the contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear plant” into the Pacific. But the international community, except China, mostly brushes off its impact on the global marine ecosystem. It is questionable if the party can draw public support by its methodical opposition to the release without presenting any ways to ease the deepening pain of fishermen.

After passing the halfway point in his term, Lee will face the parliamentary elections in seven months. He must stop mobilizing DP lawmakers to protect himself from a plethora of his own judicial risks and voluntarily appear before the prosecution’s office as an individual. At the same time, he must end his fandom-based politics if he really wants to win the election. Otherwise, he may soon have to step down.