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The Republican Party lost its majority in both houses of Congress to the Democratic Party in this week¡¯s U.S. midterm elections for the first time in 12 years. The main reason was that 56 percent of voters opposed the way President George W. Bush conducted the Iraq War, while only 42 percent supported it, according to a CNN exit poll. "Earlier this week the American people went to the polls, and they cast their ballots for a new Congress. The American people made their decision; I respect the results,¡± Bush said Wednesday, when his defeat was confirmed. "I intend to work with the new Congress in a bipartisan way to address issues confronting this country." True to his word, Bush immediately replaced Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, because the Democrats demanded his head over the Iraq War. Right up until the elections, Bush vowed he would keep Rumsfeld for the rest of his term, not least since replacing him would be to admit his own failure in Iraq. But the moment he discovered the will of the voters through the election results, he changed his mind without hesitation.
That is natural for a president of a democratic country. Here, however, the opposite is taking place. This administration suffered a total defeat in the 40 seats at stake in re- and by-elections in June 2004, April 2005, October 2005 and July and October this year. It was also routed in 16 mayoral and gubernatorial seats in the May local elections, where it captured one solitary post in North Jeolla Province. President Roh Moo-hyun himself never said a word about the outcome of the six elections. Instead, he let his spokesman irritate the public by saying the party is separate from Cheong Wa Dae, so it is inappropriate for the presidential office to comment, and vowing the administration ¡°will faithfully enforce the policy tasks it has started."
The president also clung to policymakers whose performance had been weighed and found wanting by the electorate, on the preposterous, non-constitutional logic that personnel appointments are a presidential prerogative. More than 70 percent of the people feel his North Korea policy was exposed as bankrupt by the North¡¯s nuclear test and must be ditched or changed. But the chief executive is bent on keeping it. Wednesday¡¯s example of a democratic country in accepting an election outcome must serve as a wakeup call for this government, before it indulges in further shallow calculations on how to take advantage of the U.S. midterm elections to safeguard the Sunshine Policy.
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