ID :
190556
Thu, 06/23/2011 - 02:25
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/190556
The shortlink copeid
Mayor Oh's gamble
(Yonhap) - Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon attended a regular session of the metropolitan city council for the first time in six months Tuesday.
Oh???s half-year absence at the legislature had seriously crippled the capital city???s administration, aborting the discussion of major bills, even including the 2011 budget. So the mayor???s apology for his ill-conceived boycott of dialogue and his pledge for better communication with the opposition-dominated council is a move in the right direction.
Yet the two major agenda put forth by the conservative mayor appear so controversial so as to make some citizens think that it would have been better if he had not returned to the political stage.
At stake is the upcoming referendum on free school lunches and Oh???s unwavering will to push ahead with his highly contentious ``Han River Renaissance Project,??? which calls for, among others, launching a cruise tour on the river by linking Seoul and some Chinese cities.
The free school meal program is all but a foregone conclusion in most other local autonomous bodies, including even those governed by politicians of the conservative Grand National Party. It defies our understanding why Oh, the self-professed ``rational conservative??? has to bet his political fortune on this outdated issue, posing himself as a ``warrior against electoral populism.???
It is not certain whether Oh will be able to draw one-third of Seoul citizens to the polls or win negative votes from half of those who bother to cast votes. Regardless of the results, however, there is bound to be no winners in the 20-billion-won political game. Oh might have wanted to make it a symbolic choice between universal welfare and selective welfare, but free meals for grade schoolers, which cost some 70 billion won a year, are a wrong political target.
Far more debatable is Mayor Oh???s unyielding stance in pushing for the Han River reformation project, to which not just the city council and environmental groups but the government???s top administrative watchdog has expressed opposition and reservation.
In a recent report, the Board of Audit and Inspection pointed out its low commercial viability and possible favoritism of some private participants. According to the BAI report, the cost-benefit ratio of Oh???s project, which also calls for building an artificial island in the middle of the river and operating water buses, stands at between 0.54 and 0.71, indicating its insufficient feasibility. Little wonder the city recorded fiscal losses of 200 billion and 300 billion won in 2009 and 2010, respectively.
City officials also allowed private builders to use the ``floating islands??? for up to 25 years free of charge, five years longer than originally planned, triggering suspicions about favoritism and possible kickbacks.
Even more problematic is that Mayor Oh said he would raise money for these largely demonstrative project ??? 6 trillion won in five years ??? through one-on-one bargaining with President Lee Myung-bak if the city council votes down its budget.
Mayor Oh might think his two major agenda as a duel between vote-gathering politics and a future-oriented, constructive project. But an increasing number of Seoul citizens think it a gamble between improving public welfare versus a political, demonstrative waste of money.
Oh???s half-year absence at the legislature had seriously crippled the capital city???s administration, aborting the discussion of major bills, even including the 2011 budget. So the mayor???s apology for his ill-conceived boycott of dialogue and his pledge for better communication with the opposition-dominated council is a move in the right direction.
Yet the two major agenda put forth by the conservative mayor appear so controversial so as to make some citizens think that it would have been better if he had not returned to the political stage.
At stake is the upcoming referendum on free school lunches and Oh???s unwavering will to push ahead with his highly contentious ``Han River Renaissance Project,??? which calls for, among others, launching a cruise tour on the river by linking Seoul and some Chinese cities.
The free school meal program is all but a foregone conclusion in most other local autonomous bodies, including even those governed by politicians of the conservative Grand National Party. It defies our understanding why Oh, the self-professed ``rational conservative??? has to bet his political fortune on this outdated issue, posing himself as a ``warrior against electoral populism.???
It is not certain whether Oh will be able to draw one-third of Seoul citizens to the polls or win negative votes from half of those who bother to cast votes. Regardless of the results, however, there is bound to be no winners in the 20-billion-won political game. Oh might have wanted to make it a symbolic choice between universal welfare and selective welfare, but free meals for grade schoolers, which cost some 70 billion won a year, are a wrong political target.
Far more debatable is Mayor Oh???s unyielding stance in pushing for the Han River reformation project, to which not just the city council and environmental groups but the government???s top administrative watchdog has expressed opposition and reservation.
In a recent report, the Board of Audit and Inspection pointed out its low commercial viability and possible favoritism of some private participants. According to the BAI report, the cost-benefit ratio of Oh???s project, which also calls for building an artificial island in the middle of the river and operating water buses, stands at between 0.54 and 0.71, indicating its insufficient feasibility. Little wonder the city recorded fiscal losses of 200 billion and 300 billion won in 2009 and 2010, respectively.
City officials also allowed private builders to use the ``floating islands??? for up to 25 years free of charge, five years longer than originally planned, triggering suspicions about favoritism and possible kickbacks.
Even more problematic is that Mayor Oh said he would raise money for these largely demonstrative project ??? 6 trillion won in five years ??? through one-on-one bargaining with President Lee Myung-bak if the city council votes down its budget.
Mayor Oh might think his two major agenda as a duel between vote-gathering politics and a future-oriented, constructive project. But an increasing number of Seoul citizens think it a gamble between improving public welfare versus a political, demonstrative waste of money.
