The opposition camp has brushed aside the ruling Saenuri Party's proposal to establish a bipartisan Cabinet, stressing that thoroughly investigating the Choi Soon-sil scandal must come first.
Main opposition Democratic Party(DP) Chairwoman Choo Mi-ae said at an emergency meeting of the party's Supreme Council on Monday that rather than talking about setting up a neutral Cabinet, the priority must be placed on what needs to be done. The remark was apparently referring to addressing the influence-peddling scandal involving Choi.
DP Spokesman Youn Kwan-suk said at the meeting that what matters is a declaration by the president vowing that the latest scandal will be thoroughly investigated and not discussions on a bipartisan Cabinet or other changes in power structure.
The interim leader and floor leader of the minor opposition People's Party, Park Jie-won, said a thorough probe into the Choi Soon-sil scandal, the president's heartfelt apology and her withdrawal from the Saenuri Party are preconditions to forming a bipartisan Cabinet.
Park stressed that the formation of a bipartisan Cabinet must be produced through consultations among the president and the leaders of the major political parties. He also emphasized that the people will not be fooled by strategic schemes to ease the outrage over the scandal by simply carrying out a reshuffle of government posts.
Source: KBS World Radio