By Lee Tae-hoon
Staff Reporter
The government will give public notification, Wednesday, of its submitting of a revision bill on the plan to build a multi-billion dollar administrative town in South Chungcheong Province, sources said Sunday.
The decision was reached in a meeting at the Office of the Prime Minister between top government and governing party officials, including Prime Minister Chung Un-chan, Grand National Party (GNP) Chairman Chung Mong-joon and presidential chief of staff Chung Jung-gil.
The sources said the government will submit the legislation to the National Assembly at the end of March after 20 days of promulgation and Cabinet approval.
On Saturday, Prime Minister Chung Un-chan said the Assembly should deal with the bill by April at the latest to put an end to political wrangling over the controversial project.
“It would have been ideal if the Assembly approved the revision bill in February,” Chung said in a televised broadcast. “But as there isn’t sufficient time to turn the hearts of the public and politicians, I hope parliament will endorse the bill at the latest in April.”
However, the prospect of the passage of the bill remains uncertain as opposition parties and lawmakers of the Pro-Park Geun-hye faction of the GNP are strongly against it.
Earlier in the day, Woo Sang-ho, spokesman of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP), said, “If the government submits the bill despite repeated warnings to withdraw it, the DP will regard it as a declaration of war against the people and opposition parties.”
Legislators of the Park faction also denounced the administration’s move to submit the bill. “The government’s submission of the bill will plunge the political parties into a sea of uncertainty and lead to an acute split in public opinion,” Rep. Lee Jung-hyun, a confidant of Park, said. “I cannot comprehend why the government is insisting on the submission of the bill.”
Other Park supporters also expressed concern, saying that the revision bill would paralyze the operation of the National Assembly as politicians are sharply divided over the issue.