By Jun Ji-hye
National Speaker Chung Ui-hwa declared Friday that he would postpone the passage of 91 pending bills until Tuesday, calling on the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) to participate in the plenary session.
"I decided to change the parliamentary schedule as I trusted in the sincerity of the opposition," said Chung. "I apologize to the public for the delay in passing the bills."
Chung had declared on Sept. 16 that he would use his authority to open a plenary session on Friday, saying, "The Assembly can no longer delay its duties."
The ruling Saenuri Party supported that, clinging to its position that it now had no choice but to pass pending bills unilaterally at the earliest possible date. Once a plenary session is held, the ruling party can unilaterally pass bills because it holds a majority of seats.
As promised, Chung declared the opening of the plenary session Friday afternoon, but the session broke up after only nine minutes, during which Chung delivered a short speech. Only members of the governing camp attended the session.
"The National Assembly has failed to discuss a backlog of pending bills, although it has a tight schedule until Dec. 2, when the parliament needs to handle the government's budget proposal for next year," said Chung. "It is regrettable that only ruling party members came to the session."
Following the postponement, the Saenuri Party's floor leader, Rep. Lee Wan-koo, offered to resign from his post "to take responsibility for the crippled operation of the Assembly." He also criticized the speaker, saying, "Chung is neglecting the deadlock."
However, Chairman Kim Moo-sung would not accept Lee's resignation. Kim said his party was preparing a motion to dismiss the speaker, and would submit it if the opposition again refused to attend the session on Tuesday.
Since May, the Assembly has not passed a single bill because rival parties have been locking horns over a special Sewol bill, designed to set up a fact-finding committee to investigate the man-made disaster that killed more than 300 passengers in April.
Rival floor leaders, Saenuri's Lee and the NPAD's Park Young-sun, along with fellow lawmakers, met twice ahead of the plenary session, but failed to reach a consensus on whether to pass 91 bills in the plenary session and how to wrap up the rivals' negotiations over the Sewol bill.
Ruling party members argued that the 91 bills were directly and indirectly related to the people's livelihood and the nation's economic conditions, and not subjects of political strife.
They stressed that the parties had already agreed to pass the bills because they had been approved by standing committees. These bills include revisions to the National Basic Living Security Law and the Illegal Solicitation Prohibition Law.
The NPAD criticized the ruling party for holding the plenary session unilaterally without the agreement of the opposition. It said the Saenuri Party was moving to ignore legislative procedures.
The largest opposition party has adhered to its stance that the Sewol bill should be addressed with the highest priority before other pending bills are discussed.
"There has been some progress in negotiations regarding the Sewol bill. The unilateral handling of the plenary session by the ruling party will only cause unnecessary disturbance," said Rep. Park Beom-kye, spokesman of the NPAD.
However, the ruling party downplayed the opposition's argument.
"The NPAD has failed to unify opinions inside the party. We are not sure about the position of the bereaved families of the victims, either," said Saenuri's floor leader Lee. "The status of Rep. Park Young-sun as the opposition's floor leader has been severely damaged too, while the party has experienced serious internal discord."
Reports said Rep. Moon Hee-sang, interim leader of the NPAD, asked the speaker on Thursday to postpone the plenary session until Monday, as the opposition party plans to hold a meeting on Sunday for all lawmakers to decide whether to attend the plenary session.
Follow Jun Ji-hye on Twitter @TheKopJihye
National Speaker Chung Ui-hwa declared Friday that he would postpone the passage of 91 pending bills until Tuesday, calling on the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) to participate in the plenary session.
"I decided to change the parliamentary schedule as I trusted in the sincerity of the opposition," said Chung. "I apologize to the public for the delay in passing the bills."
Chung had declared on Sept. 16 that he would use his authority to open a plenary session on Friday, saying, "The Assembly can no longer delay its duties."
The ruling Saenuri Party supported that, clinging to its position that it now had no choice but to pass pending bills unilaterally at the earliest possible date. Once a plenary session is held, the ruling party can unilaterally pass bills because it holds a majority of seats.
As promised, Chung declared the opening of the plenary session Friday afternoon, but the session broke up after only nine minutes, during which Chung delivered a short speech. Only members of the governing camp attended the session.
"The National Assembly has failed to discuss a backlog of pending bills, although it has a tight schedule until Dec. 2, when the parliament needs to handle the government's budget proposal for next year," said Chung. "It is regrettable that only ruling party members came to the session."
Following the postponement, the Saenuri Party's floor leader, Rep. Lee Wan-koo, offered to resign from his post "to take responsibility for the crippled operation of the Assembly." He also criticized the speaker, saying, "Chung is neglecting the deadlock."
However, Chairman Kim Moo-sung would not accept Lee's resignation. Kim said his party was preparing a motion to dismiss the speaker, and would submit it if the opposition again refused to attend the session on Tuesday.
Since May, the Assembly has not passed a single bill because rival parties have been locking horns over a special Sewol bill, designed to set up a fact-finding committee to investigate the man-made disaster that killed more than 300 passengers in April.
Rival floor leaders, Saenuri's Lee and the NPAD's Park Young-sun, along with fellow lawmakers, met twice ahead of the plenary session, but failed to reach a consensus on whether to pass 91 bills in the plenary session and how to wrap up the rivals' negotiations over the Sewol bill.
Ruling party members argued that the 91 bills were directly and indirectly related to the people's livelihood and the nation's economic conditions, and not subjects of political strife.
They stressed that the parties had already agreed to pass the bills because they had been approved by standing committees. These bills include revisions to the National Basic Living Security Law and the Illegal Solicitation Prohibition Law.
The NPAD criticized the ruling party for holding the plenary session unilaterally without the agreement of the opposition. It said the Saenuri Party was moving to ignore legislative procedures.
The largest opposition party has adhered to its stance that the Sewol bill should be addressed with the highest priority before other pending bills are discussed.
"There has been some progress in negotiations regarding the Sewol bill. The unilateral handling of the plenary session by the ruling party will only cause unnecessary disturbance," said Rep. Park Beom-kye, spokesman of the NPAD.
However, the ruling party downplayed the opposition's argument.
"The NPAD has failed to unify opinions inside the party. We are not sure about the position of the bereaved families of the victims, either," said Saenuri's floor leader Lee. "The status of Rep. Park Young-sun as the opposition's floor leader has been severely damaged too, while the party has experienced serious internal discord."
Reports said Rep. Moon Hee-sang, interim leader of the NPAD, asked the speaker on Thursday to postpone the plenary session until Monday, as the opposition party plans to hold a meeting on Sunday for all lawmakers to decide whether to attend the plenary session.
Follow Jun Ji-hye on Twitter @TheKopJihye
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