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| Rep. Shim Jae-cheol, newly elected floor leader of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party, speaks after holding a meeting with other floor leaders and National Assembly Speaker Moon Hee-sang at the National Assembly, Monoday. Yonhap |
By Park Ji-won
The main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) agreed to drop its marathon filibuster against fast-tracked reform bills and to pass a budget proposal for the 2020 fiscal year and pending bills, its newly elected floor leader said Monday.
"The political parties agreed to pass next year's budget bill tomorrow during a National Assembly session which is planned to be held at 10:00 a.m. The LKP will hold a general meeting and withdraw the filibuster," Rep. Shim Jae-cheol, the new floor leader of the LKP and five-term lawmaker, told reporters after a meeting with other floor leaders and National Assembly Speaker Moon Hee-sang.
If all goes as agreed, political parties will also pass other pending bills. However, the fate of the contentious fast-tracked bills remain up in the air as political parties agree to pass those.
Last month, the conservative party pledged to filibuster 199 bills in a protest against four other political parties' move to fast-track political and judiciary reform bills. The bills ― one of which is to increase the number of proportional representatives and the other is to establish an independent body to investigate corruption cases involving high-ranking officials ― have been thorny issues for months at the National Assembly due to the differences between parties.
Earlier in the day, the LKP elected Shim and his running mate Kim Jae-won as floor leader and policy maker replacing Reps. Na Kyung-won and Jeong Yong-ki. They will serve by the end of the 21st National Assembly, which falls May. 29. Shim earned 52 out of 106 votes in the runoff, after they came short of a majority with 39 votes in the first round of the election with three other contenders.
Before Shim's victory, it had been largely expected that the rival parties would continue to wrangle over the passage of the fast-track bills as other five political parties, which formed a consultative body, were planning to push through legislation without the LKP's cooperation. LKP Chairman Hwang Kyo-ahn has been taking a hardline stance against fast-tracked bills holding hunger strikes for eight days.
Critics, however, cautiously anticipate that the LKP may negotiate more with Shim, as his victory was a result of the LKP members calling for a more dovish stance with other parties against Hwang's hardline position.
"The reason behind the victory of Shim today is a reflection of some LKP lawmakers who are against the leadership body's hardline stances of holding rallies, and instead wanting to find some middle ground thorough negotiations," Cha Jae-won, a visiting professor of the Catholic University of Pusan, told YTN.
However, it is largely expected that the parties will continue to clash over the fast-track move. Speaker Moon was originally planning to put the bills to a vote by exercising his rights as Speaker, but put them on hold following the floor leaders' agreement.
Meanwhile, the Justice Party continued to hold a rally at the National Assembly, calling for the passage of a bill on electoral reform which aims to increase the number of proportional representation seats at the upcoming general election in April.
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| Members of the Justice Party hold a rally at the National Assembly, Monday, calling for the passage of a bill on electoral reform which aims to increase the number of proportional representative seats at the upcoming general election in April. Yonhap |
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