Rival parties slammed for 'vote buying' move
The National Assembly approved a 16.9-trillion-won ($14.2-billion) supplementary budget bill Monday to provide financial support for pandemic-hit small merchants and self-employed people. It is fortunate that the ruling and opposition parties passed the bill based on bipartisanship after weeks of political haggling.
Yet, the rival parties deserve criticism for trying to use the bill to their advantage in the March 9 presidential election. They have given the impression that they were more focused on maximizing their political gains rather than helping those vulnerable to the economic fallout of the public health crisis. That's why they cannot deflect criticism for using the supplementary budget for bipartisan populism to "buy votes" before the poll.
The bill passed 203-1 with nine abstentions during the Assembly's plenary session. The passage came after the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) agreed to add 2.9 trillion won to the 14-trillion-won extra budget plan presented by the government last month. The bill calls for the provision of 3 million won each to 3.32 million small merchants and self-employed people. Taxi and bus drivers, low-income artists and other freelancers will also receive up to 1 million won in emergency relief aid.
Now we have to look more closely at the approval process of the budget bill. First, we must point out that the DPK made a mistake of unilaterally passing the bill through the Assembly's budget committee Feb. 19. Such a move might have been necessary as the PPP opposed it arguing that the original amount of the proposed budget was too small. The DPK apparently wanted the speedy passage of the bill so that the government can provide relief money before the election ends. But it should have exhausted its efforts to reach an agreement with the PPP.
The opposition party cannot avoid criticism either. It was engrossed in protecting its own partisan interests in dealing with the extra budget bill. The PPP even threatened to take legal action against the DPK's unilateral passage of the bill through the budget committee. However, it changed its hardline stance and moved toward bipartisanship in order to retain the support of small merchants and self-employed people.
The public has already grown tired of watching the repeated partisan confrontations of the rival parties over previous pandemic-related supplementary budget bills which totaled 50 trillion won in 2021 and 67 trillion won in 2020. They no longer want to see such a thing happen again. They also worry about populist pledges being made by presidential candidates. DPK candidate Lee Jae-myung proposed to offer 35 trillion won in COVID-19 relief handouts, while PPP candidate Yoon Suk-yeol pledged 50 trillion won.
Whoever wins the election, the next government will have to push for another extra budget bill to keep such populist campaign promises. All of the candidates should pay more attention to the snowballing budget deficit and national debt. They must keep in mind that populism and dog-eat-dog partisan strife pose a serious threat to the country's survival and democracy.
The National Assembly approved a 16.9-trillion-won ($14.2-billion) supplementary budget bill Monday to provide financial support for pandemic-hit small merchants and self-employed people. It is fortunate that the ruling and opposition parties passed the bill based on bipartisanship after weeks of political haggling.
Yet, the rival parties deserve criticism for trying to use the bill to their advantage in the March 9 presidential election. They have given the impression that they were more focused on maximizing their political gains rather than helping those vulnerable to the economic fallout of the public health crisis. That's why they cannot deflect criticism for using the supplementary budget for bipartisan populism to "buy votes" before the poll.
The bill passed 203-1 with nine abstentions during the Assembly's plenary session. The passage came after the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) agreed to add 2.9 trillion won to the 14-trillion-won extra budget plan presented by the government last month. The bill calls for the provision of 3 million won each to 3.32 million small merchants and self-employed people. Taxi and bus drivers, low-income artists and other freelancers will also receive up to 1 million won in emergency relief aid.
Now we have to look more closely at the approval process of the budget bill. First, we must point out that the DPK made a mistake of unilaterally passing the bill through the Assembly's budget committee Feb. 19. Such a move might have been necessary as the PPP opposed it arguing that the original amount of the proposed budget was too small. The DPK apparently wanted the speedy passage of the bill so that the government can provide relief money before the election ends. But it should have exhausted its efforts to reach an agreement with the PPP.
The opposition party cannot avoid criticism either. It was engrossed in protecting its own partisan interests in dealing with the extra budget bill. The PPP even threatened to take legal action against the DPK's unilateral passage of the bill through the budget committee. However, it changed its hardline stance and moved toward bipartisanship in order to retain the support of small merchants and self-employed people.
The public has already grown tired of watching the repeated partisan confrontations of the rival parties over previous pandemic-related supplementary budget bills which totaled 50 trillion won in 2021 and 67 trillion won in 2020. They no longer want to see such a thing happen again. They also worry about populist pledges being made by presidential candidates. DPK candidate Lee Jae-myung proposed to offer 35 trillion won in COVID-19 relief handouts, while PPP candidate Yoon Suk-yeol pledged 50 trillion won.
Whoever wins the election, the next government will have to push for another extra budget bill to keep such populist campaign promises. All of the candidates should pay more attention to the snowballing budget deficit and national debt. They must keep in mind that populism and dog-eat-dog partisan strife pose a serious threat to the country's survival and democracy.
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