Saenuri does not react to Minjoo’s demand to revise anti-terrorism bill

Saenuri does not react to Minjoo’s demand to revise anti-terrorism bill. March. 01, 2016 13:57. by 고성호기자 sungho@donga.com.

The main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea has been continuing filibuster speeches to prevent the National Assembly from passing a government-backed anti-terrorism bill since Tuesday last week, but the ruling Saenuri Party is not reacting at all to Minjoo’s demand for revision to the bill.

The Saenuri Party is maintaining its hardline stance because, more than anything, time is on its side. Filibuster will automatically end on March 10, the final day of National Assembly's February session in line with the National Assembly Act. This is the reason that although the main opposition party can delay the approval of the anti-terrorism bill, it cannot completely prevent the bill from being legislated.

After all, what Saenuri has to do is to call a plenary session of the National Assembly from March 11 anew, and approve the anti-terrorism act. Since the ruling party controls the majority of seats in the Assembly, it can pass the anti-terrorism bill under any circumstance, irrespective of whether the Minjoo Party boycotts the vote or not. “We can approve the anti-terrorism act once the filibuster is over," a Saenuri leadership said. “We just need to wait. The ball is in their court.” The Minjoo Party, which cannot afford to end filibuster without any reasonable excuse, is agonizing over an exit strategy by calling the Saenuri Party for negotiations, but Saenuri has little reason to give the opposition party a path to retreat.

　

On the contrary, the ruling party is rather launching offensives by stressing that the one who created disputes must resolve it. Saenuri is demanding the opposition party to halt filibuster by itself, and normalize the parliament first. Of course, as the ruling party, Saenuri must feel burden for parliamentary paralysis, but it might judge it can still afford to hang on.

The Saenuri Party can blame the Minjoo Party for delays in approval of the redefined constituencies for the general elections. Unless the opposition party halts filibuster, the National Assembly can deliberate on the revision bill to the public official election act, which includes a bill on redefined constituencies, only after March 11 and the ruling party must believe that it could hold the opposition responsible for disruptions in schedules for the general elections. The Saenuri Party's Floor Leader Won Yoo-chul kept saying that the opposition should take full responsibility for delays in general elections.

Saenuri judges that even if the opposition party ends filibuster at the pretext of deliberating the revision bill to the electoral constituencies earlier than expected, it has little to lose as well. While the ruling party can pool and unify its supporters with the achievement of approval of the anti-terrorism act, the opposition party could potentially face a backlash from its supporters.

“Since we drafted the anti-terrorism act by adequately taking into account the opposition's demands, we can no longer change it and turn into a bill of patches” a key member of the Saenuri Party said. “We will emphasize the fact we have failed to deliberate on other bills meant to improve people’s livelihoods, including the basic act on service industry development just ahead of the general elections, because of the objection by the opposition party.”