Arrogance, complacency kill the party

In its first meeting Monday to plan strategies for the next parliamentary election on April 10, the Democratic Party (DP) positioned itself as a “reliable party to improve people’s livelihoods and prepare for the future.” In the meeting, DP leader Lee Jae-myung underscored the need for the majority party to “judge the Yoon Suk Yeol administration’s arrogant governance” and “rescue the people from a crisis.” But the gathering could not draw much attention after the governing People Power Party (PPP) dominated key issues before the nationwide election.

The lackluster image of the DP sharply contrasts the brisk atmosphere of the PPP, as seen in the decision by the mayors of Seoul and Gimpo to set up a joint research team to merge Gimpo into Seoul. The DP, which holds 168 seats in the 300-member National Assembly, seems to be embarrassed — except for showing divergent reactions to the PPP’s move. The government’s decision to ban short selling in the stock market also worked positively for the governing party, but the DP just sat on its hands. After demanding that senior PPP lawmakers run in districts in Seoul and Gyeonggi instead of sticking to their constituencies in South and North Gyeongsang, their home turf, the PPP’s innovation committee chair even proposed to lower the age limit for proportional seats to inject fresh blood into the conservative party.

While the PPP began to change after its landslide defeat in the recent by-election in Seoul, the DP is stagnant still. The voters in Gangseo District, western Seoul, voted for the DP not because they approved the party but because they disapproved the conservative president’s governance style. A number of DP supporters have turned independent because of their disappointment at DP lawmakers’ aberrant ways — including the case of handing over cash to their colleagues ahead of electing a new party leader in 2021 — even though the voters still do not like the president.

Nevertheless, DP lawmakers showed hubris one after another. After a representative underscored the need to get 200 seats together with minor oppositions to effectively neutralize a presidential veto, another said that is possible if the DP sweeps all the seats in Seoul and Gyeonggi. The DP has returned to complacency again even after it lost power in the last presidential election despite its former leader’s assurance to extend power for 20 years.

To turn the tide, the DP is pushing for the passage of two controversial bills — one aimed at restricting employers from exercising their due right to defend their management against labor unions and the other designed to strengthen media unions’ power over public broadcasters — by exploiting its majority status in the legislature. The DP floor leader even said the party will judge the president’s determination to cooperate with the opposition depending on whether he vetoes the bills.

Since the crushing election defeat, President Yoon has been keeping a low profile and taking care of people’s livelihoods. A heated debate is going on in the PPP over injecting new blood to the party, but a silence fell on the DP. If the party sticks with flexing its muscles after turning a blind eye to revitalizing itself, it cannot win the nationwide election next April.