Parliamentary deliberation of bills as best emergency countermeasure, innovation

Parliamentary deliberation of bills as best emergency countermeasure, innovation. September. 26, 2014 04:28. .

Two weeks ago, National Assembly Speaker Chung Ui-hwa sent an official letter to the parliamentary steering committee, and urged it to “discuss the opening of an ordinary assembly session on September 26.” Chung decided at his own discretion on the convening of the parliamentary plenary session in the wake of the main opposition party`s internal conflict, which was caused by controversy over recruitment of the chairman of its emergency committee, and amid a flurry of criticism against a “National Assembly in vegetative state.” Today is the day he vowed to open an assembly session.

The public has mounting anger against the National Assembly, as the parliament has failed to set schedule for budgetary review even 26 days after the opening of the ordinary parliamentary session. Despite this, the NPAD will only hold a general meeting of its lawmakers on Friday and will gather opinion to determine whether to return to the National Assembly. The view that “it is inappropriate to further boycott the National Assembly” is spreading in the party. But it is doubtable whether the party will be able to gather opinions properly in the presence of first-term lawmakers elected through the proportional representation system, who don’t hesitate to make argument of extremity. Floor Leader Park Young-sun visited Speaker Chung on Thursday, and told him, “If unilaterally railroaded, it will spawn too serious aftereffect,” thus blaming Chung for exercising his right to submit bills in his capacity as speaker, and claimed that the opposition party cannot afford to attend a parliamentary plenary session without having any progress in negotiations over the Special Sewol Ferry Act.

Article 76 of the National Assembly Act grants the National Assembly speaker the right to set agendas for all meetings in the entire session and for individual days, and to open a plenary meeting. Majority of the Korean people demand that the parliament deliberate bills irrespective of negotiations over the Special Sewol Ferry Act. There is no justification for the opposition party to block 91 bills submitted to the parliamentary plenary session, which they are not even opposed to, from being reviewed, by sealing off the assembly for five months at the pretext of the Special Sewol Ferry Act.

Nonetheless, Rep. Moon Jae-in, the effective leader of the pro-Roh Moo-hyun faction, told on Thursday, “The NPAD is a political party of infertility and a party of cartel forged by the self-employed in politics,” and demanded out of the blue the “construction of a network style party for living.” Moon joined a hunger strike led by Kim Yeong-oh, a bereaved family of a victim of the Sewol disaster, on August 19 and thus drove the party to outdoor struggle, instead of attending a general meeting of his party’s lawmakers aimed at approving a bill on the Special Sewol Ferry Act that had been agreed upon by the rival parties through negotiations. It is worrisome what other attempts Moon will make to set back the National Assembly by using a presentation at an "academic symposium on President Roh Moo-hyun" this time, after causing conflicts whenever chaos in politics was to be solved.

The NPAD should recognize people have now more critical eyes on the party following the eruption of "beating a hired substitute driver" by bereaved families of victims in the Sewol disaster. Moon Hee-sang, chairman of the NPAD’s emergency committee who calls himself a congressionalist, should display leadership and courage in persuading his party lawmakers. National Assembly Speaker Chung should exercise his rights and fulfill the obligation to proceed with the necessary steps under the National Assembly Act, even if the NPAD boycotts the plenary session on Friday. If he repeats the mistake of backing down in the face of protest by the opposition party even after designating September 15 as the "D-Day" early this month, he will end up earning the nickname "Dummy National Assembly Speaker." At this juncture, opening the assembly session and deliberating bills will be the best countermeasure to emergencies that the NPAD has stressed, and conservatives’ innovation trumpeted by the ruling Saenuri Party.