(EDITORIAL from the Korea Times on Oct. 19)

NGOs and Politics
If They Should Do It, They Should Do It Well

The moves by liberal activists to more actively participate in realpolitik have
ignited a heated debate between pros and cons.
Unlike the previous ``negative" campaigns that focused on defeating ``bad"
candidates, the new, ``positive" political movement will go all out to elect
``good" ones, beginning with the local elections next April, organizers of the
movement say.
Opponents, mostly conservative commentators, say such political activities will
seriously compromise the political neutrality ??? or ``purity," as some call it
??? of the civic groups by blurring the lines between political parties and civil
organizations. This appears to be quite an outdated, unrealistic argument.
Korean voters have long been disillusioned with the political establishment,
including both the governing and opposition parties, which has failed to meet
popular expectations for more ethical and competent politics, even raising
questions about the limitations of representative democracy. So if the civic
leaders succeed in filling the gap between direct and representative democracies,
they will have both sufficient maneuvering room as well as moral justification.
Although the approval rating of President Lee Myung-bak has surged in recent
months, various surveys show a majority of voters do not have much trust in the
conservative leader's ``working poor-friendly" policy. Nor does the main
opposition Democratic Party, an increasingly fractured and demoralized group that
fails to show much vision or leadership, seem to be an alternative.
So it is a small surprise the new movement calls itself ``Hopes and
Alternatives." The question is whether they are ready or able to show much
difference, not just in theory but in practice.
If they fail to do so, the risk will be so enormous as to threaten the existence
of the liberal activism itself, not least because some of the movement's
participants have not ruled out the possibility of running as candidates
themselves. If their moves are reflexive reactions to the government's visible
discrimination of - and pressure on - civic groups critical of its policies, such
concerns are feared to become a reality.
The Lee administration's suppression of liberal civic groups cannot be justified
under any pretext, but it is also true some civil organizations and their leaders
have committed shameful irregularities, exactly like the politicians they have
criticized, monetarily and in other areas, turning their organizations into
obese, bureaucratic power machines.
At any rate, these civic groups have taken part in politics, directly and
indirectly, so it would be fairer to ask for the voters' judgment on what they
have preached and practiced. If they prove successful, it could be a loud wake-up
call and even change the nation's political landscape considerably. If not, it
would still provide valuable lessons between theory and reality as well as
between moral justification and the means to put it into action.
The civic leaders, however, should keep this in mind ??? the reason for failure
should never be moral or political, in which case the new movement will be
reduced to a peripheral political organization like so many other groups that
ended up as much ado about nothing.
If they manage to differentiate from the existing governing and opposition
parties by restoring democracy, while, at the same time, coming up with
alternatives to mitigate the economic difficulties amid widening income
disparity, theirs could be another successful experiment.
Koreans weary of the old politics will be wishing all the best for their bold ???
if risky ??? experiment.
(END)

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