hankyoreh

President Lee Myung-bak and the Grand National Party (GNP) stand at a crossroads. The results from the Oct. 28 by-elections clearly show that the current ruling party can no longer delay in reevaluating itself. In particular, a major shift in the tenor of the national administration has appeared as a major task for President Lee. This is because while the election results may appear, on the outside, as a loss for the GNP, it was in fact a grim evaluation of the president.

Any fresh start for President Lee and the GNP must begin by acknowledging that the election results are a judgment on the administration. President Lee said in response to the election results yesterday that they provided both a measuring stick and encouragement to work harder on creating jobs and boosting economic conditions for the common person. Perhaps this statement did not entirely encapsulate his feelings, but even if he really believes what he said, he is barking up the wrong tree.

The cause of the Lee administration and ruling party’s defeat goes beyond a lack of job creation, and is deeper and more fundamental. The reasons for the defeat are arrogance and forced unilateral actions, the breaking of promises and insufficient communication. If we were to list all the negative factors, including their decision to stand on the sidelines during the Yongsan Tragedy, to force through the Four Major Rivers Restoration Project, railroad the Media Law, to renege on the original Sejong City Development Plan, to forcibly reorganize administrative districts, to expel TV program MCs Kim Je-dong and Son Seok-hee, there would be no end. If President Lee thought that he could fool voters by packaging himself in pragmatic centrism and pro-poor policies while enacting developments that fundamentally run counter to his rhetoric, he was greatly mistaken.

Since the exact diagnosis is easy to determine, it is also clear what the prescription for President Lee’s problems should be. First, he should enact a posture of modesty in governance. We hope he abandons his belief that all he needs to do is simply railroad laws through using the strength of police power or the strength of a parliamentary majority. Second, he must restore democracy. Until the precious values that have been fostered with much difficulty by our society are mercilessly denied, public sentiment will not turn in his favor. Third, he must restore trust. When what one says today is different from what one said yesterday, and the promises of the past become today’s toilet paper, the hearts of the people will only grow more distant. President Lee and the GNP are running out of time. The slower they are in transforming themselves, and the shallower the transformation, the harsher the results they will have to face.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]