How to lose the grip on policy leadership

We now have the bizarre situation where the opposition steals the state’s initiative on pension reform as the governing front interferes with it.

As the People Power Party (PPP) wants to stand firm and push policies forward, people wonder whether it is fit to be a governing party, as it finds itself led by the main opposition, the Democratic Party (DP), in key issues like pension reform. PPP interim leader Hwang Woo-yea echoed the presidential office’s position by arguing that a pension reform must include restructuring the overall pension system, even if it takes time. This was in response to the DP’s proposal to pass key changes to national pension before the current National Assembly ends this week.

PPP floor leader Choo Kyung-ho pleaded to his party members to unite to push for “real pension reform” in the upcoming 22nd National Assembly that starts its term on May 30. DP leader Lee Jae-myung — who proposed to pass the initial pension outline as soon as possible by agreeing to accept the PPP’s suggestion of lowering the income replacement rate to 44 percent — accused the PPP of backtracking from the long-awaited reform.

We now have the bizarre situation where the opposition steals the state’s initiative on pension reform as the governing front interferes with it. For the PPP’s pitch on “packaged reform” to be convincing, the government or the PPP must specifically present the road map to execute it: the timetable on specific restructuring, the method and the action plan. Without it, the ruling front is merely stalling the reform as it suspects the motive of the majority opposition. Some PPP members worry that the DP would gain credit for pushing the pension reform it neglected while it was the governing party.

The PPP also is under fire for rejecting the resubmitted bill demanding a special counsel probe on the suspicious death of a Marine on a rescue mission. Most retirees from the Marine Corps took part in a protest rally organized by the DP over the weekend. Four PPP lawmakers had pledged support for the bill which was voted down in the legislature Tuesday. The DP also leads the debate on other key bills, such as a special bill to rescue victims of rent fraud and a motion to abolish the disputed comprehensive property ownership tax.

The government is making one policy blunder after another due to the interference of the presidential office. Last November, the government imposed a full ban on short selling until June, claiming that it needed 10 months to build a system to prevent illicit short selling. When Financial Supervisory Service Gov. Lee Bok-hyun said that a short selling ban would be partly lifted in June, the presidential office denounced it as “personal greed.” The government’s talk of needing more time close to the deadline will cost it its credibility. As the PPP is already being regarded as a minority opposition, it is hard to discern which is the governing party.