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Ruling and opposition party leaders have called for urgent measures to deal with the financial crisis, which they blame on an economic leadership vacuum. They say market players do not tend to trust government policies, no matter how good, due to their deep distrust of the government's chief economic policy maker.
In a Democratic Party financial meeting on Wednesday, Chairman Chung Se-kyun said, "Strategy and Finance Minister Kang Man-soo, the chief government economic policy maker, has won the president's trust but not that of market players, financial officials and the people. Hence today's economic difficulties.¡± He added it was time to ¡°correct this mistake.¡±
Ryu Keun-chan, the chief policy maker of the Liberty Forward Party, said, "The reasons the government has lost people¡¯s trust are wrong perceptions among government officials of the reality and their frequent reversal of their statements."
In a meeting of senior party members the same day, Grand National Party Chairman Park Hee-tae said, "What is more serious than the financial crisis is people's sense of anxiety. To deal with the crisis, the president must show strong confidence and placate people's sentiments at every opportunity."
GNP lawmaker Kim Moo-sung said, "Under the circumstances, people can trust neither Cabinet members nor the prime minister. The president needs to try to convince the press, opposition parties, and the people that there is no problem as far as the current economic situation is concerned."
Kim added, "During the financial crisis in 1997, the government at the time lost people's trust. The presidential election exaggerated the crisis to some extent as parties pursued their own interests at that time. It's sad to see political circles still bent on trying to blame the government for political reasons."
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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