Chapter 44 Power is given by the people

On June 24, 2005, President Roh Moo-hyun first proposed the term "coalition government" after participating in the eleven-member meeting of the ruling power core.At the beginning, there was talk of a mixed coalition of small and large coalitions; later, it was announced that what President Roh really wants is a large coalition between the ruling party and the GNP. Until the Blue House meeting on September 7, the media has been reporting on the topic of the Great Coalition throughout the summer.At the beginning, I just turned a blind eye to it. Apart from the fact that President Roh did not clearly explain why he wants to form a coalition, based on common sense, it is really unacceptable for two political parties with different governance philosophies and policy lines to form a coalition.Now is the time to pay more attention to the economy and people's livelihood. There is really no need to get involved in such political arguments as coalition government.

"The Grand National Party only pays attention to the people's livelihood and the economy, and we have never cared about other things." I clearly drew the line by saying that the GNP did not want a coalition.However, the media kept reporting that President Roh was going to form a coalition government, and the president’s words were changing all the time. He first said that the economic difficulties were caused by the "political situation in Asano Ono", and later he said that he wanted to form a "cross-party cabinet". Now that he proposes to introduce the revision of the electoral law of the "Zhongda Electoral District System" to cancel the "regional structure"-it seems that the ultimate goal is to revise the electoral district system.

In this way, July and August passed.The food and housing problems of the people have become so prominent, but the political news still only sees the coalition government, so I think someone needs to end this situation. At the end of August, President Roh said, “The Grand Coalition is the last summary before the end of my political career.” On September 1, the head of the office of the Blue House Secretary conveyed to me President Roh’s proposal for a meeting, and I immediately agreed to the meeting.President Roh's "Great Coalition" has shaken the country and affected people's livelihood. I hope this situation can be ended as soon as possible, so I decided to go to the Cheong Wa Dae to convey the people's aspirations.As soon as the meeting between President Roh and my leader was scheduled, many people inside and outside the party worried about me and gave advice one after another.Someone said worryingly: "President Roh is the most eloquent person in the Republic of Korea. If he really goes to the talks, he will be led by the nose by President Roh." Although these are valuable suggestions, I am curious about how the people view the coalition government, The people want to have something to say to President Roh, so I instructed the staff to create a special section on the website of the Grand National Party to accept people's complaints.

There are also many people who have given me advice in the General Assembly.I asked the lawmakers to feel at ease and told them, "I am going as a representative to convey the voice of the people, and I will confidently walk in our direction on the path we think is right. I will tell President Roh directly that it is impossible. line of policy." At 2:00 pm on September 7, the meeting was held in the Baekak Room of the Cheong Wa Dae main building.On our side, the chairman of the Policy Committee, the head of the secretary office, and the spokesperson attended the meeting; on the part of the Blue House, the head of the policy office, the head of the secretary office, and the spokesperson attended the meeting.During the two-and-a-half-hour meeting, President Lu and I had a lot of conversations, and both expressed their thoughts.I have been talking about people's livelihood, while President Roh has been talking about the Great Coalition.President Lu is very frank but also very persistent. Sometimes he even feels that his tone of speech is not very polite, and he has the feeling that he wants to overwhelm me in terms of momentum.

As a representative of the opposition party, I emphasized that we have been continuously assisting people's livelihood issues, and expressed my thoughts on issues such as employment, small government, real estate, education, nuclear weapons issues, and South Korea-US cooperation.But no matter what topic I talk about, President Lu's concern is only with the coalition.No matter what the topic is, he can refer to the revision of the election law that eliminates the regional solidification of the relationship between candidates and voters, such as the grand coalition government, the cross-party cabinet, and the cancellation of the regional solidification of the relationship between candidates and voters.He kept saying repeatedly: "You are responsible for doing it."

Regarding the coalition government, I sincerely gave some advice to President Lu: "The so-called power is bestowed by the people, and no one can talk about the distribution of power. Power is bestowed by the people, so no matter how hard you work, you must be responsible to the end. You said that it was hard work because the Assassin Ono was big, but after the congressional general election, the Ono and Ono have become smaller, isn’t it? President, you should concentrate on economic issues in order to win the hearts of the people with the election. You should know that the opinion of the people is the most important thing of."

I stated my beliefs and went on: "The Grand National Party has always supported and assisted people's livelihood issues 100%, and there has never been a single bill related to people's livelihood that was not allowed to pass. Here, I want to express my position on the Great Coalition to you. Please don't mention the Great Coalition. I also I hope this topic can be stopped at this point." I don't know if he knew my sincerity, but President Roh said instead: "I even thought about whether the Roh Moo-hyun era should be ended as soon as possible." He said that he wanted to suspend his term of office.

"Please don't say in the future that you are going to end your term, it will make the people feel uneasy." Our conversations run on parallel lines that don't meet.As time passed, President Roh began to show that he didn't want to continue the conversation, so I finally expressed my views on the position of the president sincerely: "Because I have been watching the position of the president up close for a long time, I know very well. This position will lead to many misunderstandings. The worries of the people will immediately be the worries of the president. It is a position of 24-hour labor and unlimited responsibility. Others will think that this is the position of the powerful, but in fact it is very lonely. Every president has the responsibilities of his time. Therefore, President Roh, you have the mission of your time. Please think carefully about your mission and complete your term. The opposition party only wants the country to be better. As an opposition party, you have We will always be faithful to the role that the opposition must play. No politician or president can win over the people. Please remember that the economy is the most important thing wherever you go.”

He didn't answer anything, which meant that it was time to end the conversation. The next day President Lu was going on a tour abroad, and it happened that his birthday was on that day, so I sent a birthday message.After hearing this, he said: "I didn't celebrate birthdays very much before. When I was born, my mother didn't have any fetal dreams, so I am a leader without legends." For some reason, these words made people feel a little sad. That ended the meeting between President Roh and me that day.From then on, the Great Coalition was no longer mentioned.As long as I think of the day I failed to persuade President Roh to transfer his heart to people's livelihood, I still feel very regretful.