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Twenty-three ruling Uri Party lawmakers left the party on Tuesday seeking to form a new parliamentary faction. As they left, the lawmakers said they would follow the party¡¯s basic policy objectives as well as support President Roh Moo-hyun to the end. It is a mystery why these people are leaving if they are seeking to back the policies of the party and the president, which have divided the country over the past four years and made the people suffer.
These lawmakers said they will repent and start over again. How can you repent for your past actions yet pledge to walk the same path you¡¯ve walked so far? They didn¡¯t even bother to explain which actions they were repenting. These former ruling-party lawmakers, who have forced into effect all kinds of bad regulations, must tell the public what they are sorry about. If they truly felt guilty about their actions over the last three years, they would not stage this kind of show.
Claiming to start anew, these lawmakers proposed slogans, including words like ¡°the future¡± and ¡°progress.¡± But the Korean public feels betrayed when they look back at just how much the country has regressed over the last four years under their leadership in the National Assembly. Eventually, the parliamentary faction they form within the National Assembly will be merely a mini Uri Party. There will be no such thing as a new beginning.
The current and former head of the Uri Party reportedly told the departing lawmakers that they would all meet again soon. The truth is that the exodus we¡¯re seeing now is a show, with all members merely seeking to gather again under a different party name. The public is just staring at these people, wondering what in the world they are doing.
In 2004, the Uri Party became the ruling party with 152 seats in the National Assembly. But in just three years, its status fell to second place with 110 seats. Even the minds of lawmakers who are still with the Uri Party are really somewhere else. That¡¯s how it has been for some time now. The party¡¯s days are numbered.
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