One month to go

Nominees must show what elections are for

To the relief of many, the two opposition nominees resumed talks Sunday for unifying their candidates. It is anybody’s guess, however, how many ordinary voters are among the people who feel thrilled with the single candidacy tug-of-war. Exactly 30 days are left before the voting day but the electorate is in the darkness more about who will run in the end than about their pledges.

Nominees with similar policies and philosophies can of course join forces for election victory, but the process shouldn’t start this late and entail so much noise. It was good in this regard to see leaders of the Democratic United Party (DUP) give up their vested interests and step down to speed up the bargaining with their competitors within the liberal camp.

It may still be too early to remain optimistic about negotiated settlement of the unification game rules, as the devil always lies in the details. Yet the two sides must agree on a single candidacy at least by the candidate registration date of Nov. 26, after holding at least one debate.

If DUP’s Moon Jae-in and independent Ahn Cheol-soo miss the mutually agreed deadline, the effects of unified candidacy will reduce to half; and the closer the process prolongs to Dec. 10 when election managers print ballot papers, the slimmer the chances will become even for a single opposition runner. This is because the process will be far more important than the result to bring about “chemical” union of their supporters in the final race against conservative ruling party’s candidate, Park Geun-hye.

Whatever the eventual outcome, the time seems to have long passed for the nation to rethink its election system ― or its Constitution on governance ― to avoid this chaotic situation every five years, and better serve voters.

Most pitiably, the electorate has yet to see any debate among candidates with just one month to go before hitting the polls.

If avoiding the chaos and waste of time over candidate unification is the only purpose, the nation has only to introduce a run-off election.

For broader reforms, however, it can consider changing the presidential system by benchmarking a French model, which calls for not only the final decisive ballot but also double-term presidency and a sharp reduction of the president’s power by relegating domestic administration to a prime minister. The two opposition nominees are advised to agree on its introduction during the next president’s tenure if one of them wins it.

Moon and Park have agreed on the four-year, double-term presidency but not on implementing it during their tenure. Ahn has yet to make clear his position on the matter. We think only the candidate willing to sacrifice himself or herself for the long-term political development deserves the country’s top office at a time when all regional powers are also undergoing leadership changes and the entire world is in the throes of economic survival while attempting to redefine the capitalist system.

It is all the more necessary for the two opposition candidates for both their unification efforts and ultimate election victory. A brief defeat will prove to be a long victory for them. <The Korea Times>