Don’t expect gains from the DP leader’s fall

If they drag their feet in reshaping the complacent party, they will have to struggle with an uncontrollable storm soon.

Governing People Power Party (PPP) leader Han Dong-hoon made refreshing remarks in a Supreme Council meeting on Monday. Mentioning the Seoul Central District Court’s conviction last week of Democratic Party (DP) leader Lee Jae-myung for violating the Election Act, Han stressed the importance of the governing party to meet the public’s growing expectations for the party to change. The PPP leader also vowed to not take any gains from the crisis of the opposition. Han’s pledge is a stern warning against being intoxicated by the predicament of the DP.

But the problem is how to carry out Han’s commitment to resuscitate the lethargic party speedily. As the DP leader’s judicial risks started to materialize, the PPP apparently could take a respite from the majority party’s relentless attacks on the PPP over power broker Myung Tae-kyun’s alleged intervention in a by-election two years ago. President Yoon Suk Yeol’s apology in a press conference on Nov. 7 may have helped his and the PPP’s approval rating to rebound. In the latest Realmeter poll, the president’s approval rating rose to 23.7 percent from as low as 17 percent. The rise of his approval rating to 37 percent from 23 percent in just a week in Daegu and North Gyeongsang — the base for the conservative party — must be good news for the PPP.

But the rebound in Yoon’s approval rating is nearly ignorable, given the voters’ negative attitude toward the president still above 70 percent. If the PPP wants to take advantage of the minimal increase in his approval rating, that’s a critical mistake. The harsh public assessment of the president is totally irrelevant to the court’s ruling against the DP leader.

After watching the court’s ruling, the public can apply the principle of fairness to the government and PPP at any time. Citizens will ask why the prosecution still dilly-dallies on investigating the deepening suspicion about the connection between the mysterious power broker and the presidential couple. After the storm passes, the DP will try to find a breakthrough by concentrating its attacks on the first lady for abuse of power. The DP has begun to question why the prosecution is not looking into the first lady’s alleged intervention in state affairs even though the DP leader and his wife have been going through investigations and trials over the past two years.

The PPP leader’s promise to change to meet the people’s expectations for revamping the government must be kept. The presidential office also must implement what the president pledged to people in the press conference. If they drag their feet in reshaping the complacent party, they will have to struggle with an uncontrollable storm soon.