Ruling party moves toward unilateral FTA passage
By Chung Min-uck
The ruling Grand National Party (GNP) is ready to railroad the long-stalled free trade agreement with the U.S. (KORUS FTA) at the National Assembly.
A majority of GNP lawmakers agreed to push for a unilateral passage of the KORUS FTA in accordance with the National Assembly Law but deferred the date for the ratification.
“Most of the lawmakers urged swift ratification of the bill but had slightly different opinions on when and how to do so,” said GNP spokeswoman Rep. Lee Doo-ah, Thursday.
Lee said the hardliners and moderates are reaching a consensus “to entrust the specifics of ratification to the leadership of the party.”
The ruling party came up with the decision in a general session, which started at 2 p.m. and continued late into the night with the attendance of more than 140 out of 169 GNP members.
Rep. Hong Joon-pyo earlier in a meeting said “There will be chaos if there is no determination when needed.” “The bill should be dealt with in accordance with democratic procedures under the law.”
The GNP replaced two of its first-term lawmakers on the National Assembly Foreign Affairs, Trade and Unification Committee with senior hardliners Reps. Ahn Sang-soo and Lee Yoon-sung, to prepare for swift approval of the long-stalled bill.
The party’s stance comes as the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) rejected President Lee Myung-bak’s proposal Wednesday that he will seek renegotiation of the controversial investor-state dispute (ISD) clause with the United States after the trade deal is ratified.
The DP turned down the suggestion the following day asking for a written agreement signed by minister-level officials of both nations for the scrapping of the clause immediately.
In the Assembly, the ruling party has a comfortable majority of 169 out of the current 295 seats, and could easily unilaterally ratify the bill. Even moderate GNP lawmakers who have been seeking compromise with the opposition parties have turned their back on the DP’s response.
``Looking at what the DP has suggested to the President, I suspect the DP has lost the principle of negotiation,” said Rep. Hwang Woo-yea, GNP floor leader, during a Supreme Council meeting. “Does the DP really want to cause a catastrophe? The time determination has come.”
Rep. Nam Kyung-pil, GNP member and chairman of the foreign affairs, trade and unification committee, also urged the ruling party “not to ignore the time for determination.” But at the same time he left room for negotiation, saying, “The talks should go on.”
Insiders say the GNP is planning to railroad the trade bill at the National Assembly’s plenary session slated for Nov. 24. But some say D-day for the passage will be Dec. 2 which is also the legal deadline for the passage of next year’s budget bill.
National Assembly Speaker Park Hee-tae who has the authority to forward the bill to the floor without committee approval is also leaning toward GNP’s unilateral ratification.
Park met with floor leaders of the opposing parties and criticized DP’s request saying, “there is already a legal precedent for the negotiation with the U.S. government. Why does the DP need a written document for this?”
Park explained that in a treaty it is a “must” to accept a negotiation offer from the counterpart after the agreement goes into effect.
The matter at stake is whether the GNP’s moderate lawmakers, who account for more than one-third of all the GNP members, will actively participate in railroading the bill to the end. If the moderates decide to hold further rounds of negotiations with the opposition parties, the ruling party will not have the numbers to push through ratification.
Meanwhile, DP hardliners, led by Rep. Chung Dong-young, a DP Supreme Council member, Thursday handed over a document to Rep. Kim Jin-pyo, DP floor leader, which includes the signatures of more than half the 87 DP lawmakers agreeing with the party’s principle of scrapping the ISD clause before ratifying the bill.