Rep. Park Geun-hye, the former interim leader of the ruling Saenuri Party, applauds along with the party’s proportional representatives during a meeting to keep campaign promises at the Palace Hotel in Seoul, Monday. / Yonhap

By Chung Hee-hyung

The plenary parliamentary session supposed to start Wednesday is unlikely to commence on time as the ruling and the main opposition parties are unable to agree on the leadership lineup for the National Assembly.

The impasse raises further concern that the new parliament has failed to overcome the age-old political infighting repeated countless times in the country’s politics. Its members have just been elected in April’s elections.

The two party’s inability ― or even unwillingness ― to reach an agreement over technicalities may be showing once again that they are more interested in gaining the upper hand in the Assembly than truly caring for the welfare of the average voter.

At the request of the main opposition Democratic United Party (DUP), the Secretariat of the National Assembly made a public notice last Friday that the Assembly will hold its first plenary session since the elections. More than a month has passed since the DUP and the ruling Saenuri Party began negotiations on how to fill key posts.

At stake are the Assembly’s speaker, vice speaker and 18 heads of parliamentary committees. Allocating the chief posts for the 18 standing committees has been an issue of special importance. Each committee’s head has the right to decide whether to refer any submitted bill to the committee’s conference. In other words, they can virtually kill a bill even before it ever comes to light.

The ruling party insists on a limited “one-point” plenary session in which only the speaker and the vice speaker of the National Assembly would be decided on, pushing the selection of standing committee chiefs back to a later date. The Saenuri Party claims that failing to fill the two crucial posts any further would in effect paralyze the entire parliament.

The DUP, on the other hand, refused the Saenuri Party’s proposal outright and contended that no plenary session should be held until the two parties reach a complete agreement.

”The DUP sees no reason why the two parties should only discuss the appointment of the speaker and the vice speaker,” said Park Gi-chun, the opposition’s vice floor leader on Monday. “It is our position that the discussion of every post should be on the table.”

The main opposition’s floor leader took an even harsher tone, expressing his “outrage” at the ruling party’s recalcitrance. “We have reduced our demand for the number of committee heads from 10 to eight, but the Saenuri Party has shown nothing in return,” said Rep. Park Jie-won on Monday.

Park even threatened to put up the DUP’s own candidate up for speaker, an unprecedented move, because traditionally the majority party’s candidate running for the speaker has won unanimous backing from the minority. It has been a rare symbol of bipartisan cooperation.

The ruling party, in turn, hold the opposition party responsible for the parliamentary stalemate that has been dragging on for so long.

“A National Assembly without even its own speaker is akin to a lifeless plant,” condemned Saenuri’s vice floor leader Kim Ki-hyun. “It seems as if the DUP is interested in putting the Assembly in a state of a coma.”

In 2008, the newly formed parliament took a record 89 days to select its speaker, vice speaker and all the heads of standing committees. Political observers have expressed their concern that the current Assembly might break the last record and hold the dubious honor of taking the longest time ever to form its leadership.

The National Assembly Act requires the legislative branch to elect a speaker within seven days after the start of the parliamentary session and gives three more days to select all of its committees’ heads. Few expect, however, the lawmakers to meet the tight deadline.

In fact, the two parties may have little interest in starting the parliament at the earliest possible moment. With the presidential election only a few months away, it is unlikely that any important piece of legislation, especially politically controversial ones, will be passed.

Moreover, both parties do not want to give the impression that they have yielded to their opponent’s pressure. This holds especially true for the Saenuri Party.

“We have few, if any, benefits to start the Assembly anytime soon. The new parliament will only give the opposition a convenient platform on which it may call for parliamentary hearings or politically attack the incumbent government,” said a lawmaker from the ruling party.