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Even Grand National party insiders now complain that people are turning their back on the government only 100 days after President Lee Myung-bak took office, but the presidential office, government and ruling party leadership appear not to recognize the seriousness of the situation. Public anger, meanwhile, has reached the point of calls for an urgent Cabinet reshuffle and even impeachment or resignation of the president.
GNP lawmakers say they are criticized every day by voters in their constituencies. GNP vice floor leader Cha Myung-jin on Tuesday said the government has failed to do enough for small business owners. ¡°I am very worried that the government has decided to leave small business owners¡¯ fate to the law of market forces or just turn a blind eye,¡± he added.
A senior lawmaker representing a Busan constituency said voters in the nation¡¯s second largest city have vowed to punish the president, who they say does not listen to the public and acts like the owner of a conglomerate. Lawmaker Nam Kyung-pil said voters now think that former president Roh Moo-hyun understood ordinary people but Lee and his wealthy Cabinet members ¡°don¡¯t have a smidgen of sympathy with common people.¡±
GNP lawmakers say the party has already demanded that the president replace some of his Cabinet.
GNP lawmaker-elect Kim Yong-tae said Lee is not aware of public anger and discontent, noting his refusal to replace ministers and accept the party¡¯s reform proposal. A second-term GNP lawmaker for a Seoul constituency said that the people are angry because they think President Lee has ¡°betrayed their expectations and filled up his Cabinet with Ko So Yeong figures¡± -- for his alma mater Korea University, his Somang Presbyterian Church, and his home region of Yeongnam. The lawmaker said the overhaul of the Cabinet and the presidential office is the only way to calm down the public. In the face of escalating public worries for the resumption and safety of U.S. beef imports, he added, some presidential aides and ministers fanned public anger with ¡°inappropriate¡± remarks and policies. The people in question ¡°should voluntarily resign to take responsibility,¡± the lawmaker demanded.
Cheong Wa Dae and the government are primarily responsible for general discontent, critics say. Lee Nam-young, a politics professor at Sookmyung Women's University, said they have failed to satisfy the public since their inauguration, from the appointment of cabinet members to the nomination of candidates for April¡¯s general elections; from the English immersion education policy to the cross-country canal project; from relations with Japan to beef negotiations with the U.S.
Prof. Kang Suk-hoon of Sungshin Women¡¯s University advised the government to listen to the public before announcing policy decisions. ¡°An election victory doesn¡¯t mean that the people will give the nod to all of its policies,¡± she added.
The ruling GNP has not escaped criticism. The mainstream in the party does not want to offend the president, while minor and fringe factions have no time to engage, focusing as they do on the return of lawmakers who defected after they failed to win the party¡¯s nomination for the general elections. Prof. Chang Hun of ChungAng University said the ruling party is ¡°heavily subordinated¡± to Cheong Wa Dae, and the president does not know what the public wants, partly because the ruling party is failing to deliver public opinion to the president. GNP lawmaker Joo Seong-young said some leaders are left to run the party while others remain silent. He criticized the party for ¡°just trying to please the president.¡± GNP lawmaker-elect Kim Hyo-jae said that the party looks ¡°completely lethargic.¡±
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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