By Lee Hyo-sik
The Seoul Metropolitan Government has turned a controversial free school meals program into a legal battle by taking it to the Supreme Court to nullify an ordinance passed by the Seoul Metropolitan Council.
The city government said Tuesday that it lodged a lawsuit to invalidate the ordinance as it contains illegal provisions forcing Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon to implement the free school meals program against his will.
The move is the latest in a months-long conflict between Mayor Oh, a member of the conservative Grand National Party and the council, which is dominated by the progressive main opposition Democratic Party (DP) members, over the controversial free meals issue.
On Dec. 30, the city council passed the ordinance and budget bill to provide free lunches to elementary school students this year and to expand the program to include middle and high school students in 2012.
But Mayor Oh refused to execute the budget and promulgate the ordinance, saying that the free lunch scheme will damage the city’s fiscal soundness and increase the burden of taxpayers. He even accused the council of appealing to populism for votes in a campaign for the next election.
In response, the council sued Oh for negligence for failing to implement the ordinance and then promulgated it on Chairman Hu Kwang-tai’s authority on Jan. 6.
“There are many illegal provisions in the controversial ordinance, which is the basis for the free school meals program. We would like to prove that the ordinance is flawed and that it should be nullified. We think the best way to do so is through the Supreme Court,” a city government spokesman Lee Jong-hyun said.
He then said under the Local Government Act, heads of municipal administrations are allowed to complain to the nation’s high court within 20 days after the passage of ordinances by municipal councils if they are deemed to breach any existing laws.
Meanwhile, the city government Tuesday decided to postpone submitting a request to hold a referendum on the free school meals program to the council for approval as the majority of council members from the DP continue to reject it.