“Can we learn anything from the way the South Koreans resolve their political conflicts?”
WE HAVE to give it to the South Koreans. Their politics is so unlike ours. Theirs is intense, brutal, decisive and swift. In the wink of an eye, their President was impeached and is now awaiting what the South Korean Constitutional court will say whether it will confirm the impeachment or not.
He is also under detention and on trial for his abortive martial law proclamation. The latest is that the court is about to reach a decision. From a political wonder boy, President Yoon is now facing disgrace and jail time.
A lot of South Korea’s recent presidents have in fact been impeached and ended in jail with one committing suicide by jumping from a building when he was going to be investigated. That despite, the South Korean presidency is still a much sought after political position.
For us we can only marvel at how the SK police raided the Office of the South Korean President just like any other citizen which can never happen here.
Our NBI cannot even invite the Vice President for a short interview regarding the threat she made on her president. Also, we have a former president whose favorite go-to solution is physical – the elimination of people which he did again by suggesting that a bomb blast should kill 15 senators to make room for others.
The media again said the former president was only joking but one never really knows when he is joking or not.
But going back to the South Korean situation, the swiftness of the impeachment process was really something.
For us, it has been full of dilatory tactics as we often do with charges and counter charges being filed by the warring political parties and still there is no decision whether to convene the Senate and try VP Duterte.
Since the complaint has been transmitted to the Senate why doesn’t that body just go ahead and conduct the trial and get it over with instead of waiting till after the May elections? Why the delay?
Well, there may be political reasons for this. One is that a conviction is not all that guaranteed with the current Senate.
But won’t the end of this current Congress necessitate the refiling of another impeachment complaint with the new Congress?
It may be so but since the drama is now being played out in the Supreme Court, we will have to wait and see what the highest court of the land will say.
But these are really too confusing for ordinary people and is also diverting the country’s attention from more pressing problems like the hard-to-control inflation which is making life miserable for the masses.
The way this issue is being played out, it is almost certain the Senate trial will be after the May elections. This is the reason why the Senate race will be crucial to both sides.
Whichever side wins more seats will tell us whether the trial will result in acquittal or conviction even before the actual trial. So, people should go out and vote.
Can we learn anything from the way the South Koreans resolve their political conflicts?
Maybe, but it is doubtful whether we can do it the way they do. Our political culture for one is vastly different. Our politicians have the tendency to avoid frontal confrontations.
To them, it is sometimes better to wait in the hope the conflict will simply die down and disappear.
This may be due in part to our system of political party affiliations which allows politicians to easily change parties.
Perhaps, it is the better way to avoid constant political disruptions but this can also tell us how shallow the political convictions are of some of our politicians.
In the South Korean situation, had the President been given time to explain his motivations, maybe it would have been unnecessary to impeach him but that is not in their nature.
To them what is important is that no President should be allowed to even contemplate any Martial Law declaration or think that he is a dictator.
It is something that should be food for thought for us the public and all politicians alike.