President Park Geun-hye issued a warning Tuesday against Cabinet members who she said were distracted from their jobs. The warning, made at the weekly Cabinet meeting, was a clear manifestation that she was not happy with the performance of some ministers.
Specifically, a stern-faced Park raised her voice when she said that Cabinet ministers should work on behalf of the people and that they should lead their respective ministries well, without pursuing any “personal paths.”
Park did not elaborate as to what she meant by personal paths, but it was not hard to fathom what she was pointing to. She was chastising some of the five Cabinet ministers who concurrently hold parliamentary seats.
Some of them ― like Finance Minister Choi Kyung-hwan ― have publicly said that they will return to the ruling party, which means they will run in April’s parliamentary elections.
Even Oceans and Fisheries Minister Yoo Ki-june and Land and Transportation Minister Yoo Il-ho, both of whom took their office as recently as last March, have not clearly ruled out the possibility of running.
Park must feel frustrated if her Cabinet ministers think only of their political futures instead of tackling the national agenda confronting the Park administration, including the slumping economy whose uncertainty is deepening amid the Greek crisis and the wake of the Middle East respiratory syndrome.
But it is Park herself who planted the seeds for the problems involving the Cabinet ministers-cum-lawmakers. For instance, Park appointed both the oceans and transportation ministers in March, ignoring the concern that they will serve in their posts for just 11 months if they run in the next general election. All government officials must resign at least 90 days ahead of the polling day, and the deadline for the forthcoming elections is Jan. 14 next year.
The fundamental problem lies with the hybrid form of government, which is basically a presidential system but allows lawmakers to serve in the Cabinet, an element of the parliamentary system. Park worsened the problem by appointing the wrong people.
It is not too harsh to say that none of the five, including Education Minister Hwang Woo-yea, who doubles as the deputy prime minister for noneconomic affairs, and Gender Equality and Family Minister Kim Hee-jung, should get high marks for their performances.
For instance, a newspaper survey of economists gave 6.6 points out of a possible 10 for the nation’s economic performance under Choi, who has doubled as the deputy prime minister for economic affairs, during the past year. The consistent speculation that Choi will resign around the end of this year to run in the April elections keeps economic players unconvinced about the economic leadership of the Park administration.
The political ruckus over ruling party floor leader Yoo Seong-min, who on Wednesday announced his resignation, also testifies to the fact that having lawmakers in the Cabinet does little to foster communication and teamwork between the administration and the ruling party.
So if Park is not happy with the five, she should first blame herself for deciding to bring ruling party lawmakers into the Cabinet and, moreover, making it worse by choosing the wrong ones.
