ID :
206325
Sat, 09/10/2011 - 05:56
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/206325
The shortlink copeid
Desire for new politics
Although brief and not even realized, the political tempest stirred by Ahn Cheol-soo has left an unprecedented impact on Korea???s political circles.
Major political parties are still smarting from the shock, and are at a loss how to interpret the explosive popular fervor about this medical doctor-turned-IT tycoon-turned-university professor.
Some comments the governing and main opposition parties made when Ahn unexpectedly dropped his bid for the Seoul mayoral elections and endorsed another political novice, Park Won-soon showed the existing political groups still do not know what???s happening exactly.
The conservative ruling Grand National Party denounced what Ahn???s supporters call ``beautiful concession??? as little more than ``leftists??? political show??? or even ``conspiracy to take the presidency by the followers of former President Roh Moo-hyun.??? The relatively liberal Democratic Party was just busy trying to bring progressive Park into its embrace.
Yet what voters are expressing is their contempt and denial of overall party politics or even representative democracy as it is now. They are boycotting both corrupt conservatives and incompetent progressives. Even the distinction has become blurred recently, as conservatives became incompetent as the Lee Myung-bak administration has shown, and liberals turn corrupt, as Seoul???s education chief is dismaying voters.
Especially serious is the frustration felt by young, unemployed people.
Unlike older people, this highly-educated, SNS-savvy generation has the intellect and information to know what???s going on in this world. Yet they are blocked from climbing the ladder of social success by greedy and corrupt ``elite politicians,??? and cannot get even jobs, decent or not. Their anger and frustration is being disrupted in various forms throughout the world _ as armed revolutions in politically depressed countries and as violent protests even in old democracies.
In a less violent and more desirable situation, voters actively voice their views and interests through grass-root democracy. A case in point is the Tea Party movement in the United States at least in form, although its content or direction is far from desirable. The ongoing political change _ or its initial signals _ in this country points to the need for Korean voters to more actively participate in politics instead of just casting a ballot once every four or five years and being cast away from state affairs for the rest of the time.
Only then, can they become main players in a democracy, discerning true leaders and throwing away politicians based on empty images.
A good example is former GNP leader, Park Geun-hye, who has been closest to next presidency for the past four years but had to see Ahn exceed her in approval rating in just six days. The embarrassing situation for Park was neither because she is the daughter of a dictator nor because she proved to be more emotional and narrow-minded than she appeared to be, as shown in her irritable reaction to reporters asking about the reversal in popularity poll.
It was because Rep. Park, although an ``election queen??? thanks mainly to a regional support base, nostalgia over her father???s economic accomplishment and image as a victim under successive administrations, has disappointingly little to present as her own policy. Park???s recent contribution to The Foreign Affairs on inter-Korean policy and her theory on public welfare only demonstrated how empty and vague her views are in these areas.
In short, Park was also just a ``wind??? or ``image??? like Ahn, only far longer than the latter. It is not clear if Ahn???s dropping out of the mayoral race reflects his ``beautiful spirit??? or lack of preparedness or both. Nor can we know he would make a bigger bid for presidency next year or thereafter.
What the ongoing political convulsion shows is that Korean voters prefer leaders who are less bossy and more folksy, less greedy and more self-sacrificing and less based on image and more based on substance.
It would be all the better if voters can ``cultivate??? such leaders and develop with them instead of picking up them as ``finished products.???
Politics, and elections for that matter, are best when it is not just the result but a process. The 2012 polls should be the example in which Korean voters can make such an experiment, and select leaders who are most responsive to it, Ahn or anyone else.
Major political parties are still smarting from the shock, and are at a loss how to interpret the explosive popular fervor about this medical doctor-turned-IT tycoon-turned-university professor.
Some comments the governing and main opposition parties made when Ahn unexpectedly dropped his bid for the Seoul mayoral elections and endorsed another political novice, Park Won-soon showed the existing political groups still do not know what???s happening exactly.
The conservative ruling Grand National Party denounced what Ahn???s supporters call ``beautiful concession??? as little more than ``leftists??? political show??? or even ``conspiracy to take the presidency by the followers of former President Roh Moo-hyun.??? The relatively liberal Democratic Party was just busy trying to bring progressive Park into its embrace.
Yet what voters are expressing is their contempt and denial of overall party politics or even representative democracy as it is now. They are boycotting both corrupt conservatives and incompetent progressives. Even the distinction has become blurred recently, as conservatives became incompetent as the Lee Myung-bak administration has shown, and liberals turn corrupt, as Seoul???s education chief is dismaying voters.
Especially serious is the frustration felt by young, unemployed people.
Unlike older people, this highly-educated, SNS-savvy generation has the intellect and information to know what???s going on in this world. Yet they are blocked from climbing the ladder of social success by greedy and corrupt ``elite politicians,??? and cannot get even jobs, decent or not. Their anger and frustration is being disrupted in various forms throughout the world _ as armed revolutions in politically depressed countries and as violent protests even in old democracies.
In a less violent and more desirable situation, voters actively voice their views and interests through grass-root democracy. A case in point is the Tea Party movement in the United States at least in form, although its content or direction is far from desirable. The ongoing political change _ or its initial signals _ in this country points to the need for Korean voters to more actively participate in politics instead of just casting a ballot once every four or five years and being cast away from state affairs for the rest of the time.
Only then, can they become main players in a democracy, discerning true leaders and throwing away politicians based on empty images.
A good example is former GNP leader, Park Geun-hye, who has been closest to next presidency for the past four years but had to see Ahn exceed her in approval rating in just six days. The embarrassing situation for Park was neither because she is the daughter of a dictator nor because she proved to be more emotional and narrow-minded than she appeared to be, as shown in her irritable reaction to reporters asking about the reversal in popularity poll.
It was because Rep. Park, although an ``election queen??? thanks mainly to a regional support base, nostalgia over her father???s economic accomplishment and image as a victim under successive administrations, has disappointingly little to present as her own policy. Park???s recent contribution to The Foreign Affairs on inter-Korean policy and her theory on public welfare only demonstrated how empty and vague her views are in these areas.
In short, Park was also just a ``wind??? or ``image??? like Ahn, only far longer than the latter. It is not clear if Ahn???s dropping out of the mayoral race reflects his ``beautiful spirit??? or lack of preparedness or both. Nor can we know he would make a bigger bid for presidency next year or thereafter.
What the ongoing political convulsion shows is that Korean voters prefer leaders who are less bossy and more folksy, less greedy and more self-sacrificing and less based on image and more based on substance.
It would be all the better if voters can ``cultivate??? such leaders and develop with them instead of picking up them as ``finished products.???
Politics, and elections for that matter, are best when it is not just the result but a process. The 2012 polls should be the example in which Korean voters can make such an experiment, and select leaders who are most responsive to it, Ahn or anyone else.
