Parties play blame game over FTA passage

Railroading to have far-reaching impact on next year’s elections

By Lee Tae-hoon

Lawmakers from both the ruling and opposition parties were quick to play the blame game Tuesday over an ugly scene that unfolded over the approval of the free trade agreement with the United States (KORUS FTA) at the National Assembly.

“The governing party legislators once again rammed through a bill,” Rep. Kim Yoo-jung, spokeswoman of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP), said, passing the buck to the ruling party. “Their act cannot be pardoned.”

Rep. Sohn Hak-kyu, chairman of the DP, said his party will boycott all parliamentary sessions, signaling that the Assembly will once again fail to properly deliberate the annual state budget this year.

Lawmakers of the governing Grand National Party (GNP) claimed that it was unavoidable for them to use their majority status in unilaterally passing the long-stalled trade deal.

“We bow our heads in apology for not being able to pass the FTA ratification under a bipartisan agreement,” GNP spokesman Kim Ki-hyun said. “Some lawmakers within the DP made efforts to negotiate, but their leadership refused dialogue and compromise till the bitter end.”

Nevertheless, those who backed the railroading of the bilateral trade motion, as well as the ones who attempted to block it will likely face a tough time in evading responsibility for the lack of democratic decorum.

Observers say leaders of the GNP and the DP will be under increasing pressure over any negative fallout from the FTA ratification and possible public criticism over their decisions.

They also say the railroading of the deal will likely have far-flung implications for the political sector especially in relation to the parliamentary and presidential elections next year.

Political pundits point out that the swearing, shouting and physical scuffles among politicians — repeated once again in settling a contentious issue — will only exacerbate the growing public apathy toward politics.

The negative fallout may spill over to legislators who had vowed to handle the matter without the use of force, including 22 GNP centrist lawmakers who promised not to run in the next general elections if their party used physical confrontation.

Twenty of them participated in the vote, which took place in a close-door session amid fierce resistance from the opposition parties. Reps. Hong Jong-wook and Choung Byoung-gug were the exceptions.

GNP lawmaker Jeong Tae-geun, who had been on a hunger strike since Nov. 13 in a call for bipartisan efforts to pass the bill without scuffles, apologized for the disappointing scene at the Assembly.

“We regret our wrongdoing,” he said, noting that he and his colleagues will announce their plans for the next election soon.

Some 150 lawmakers of the GNP abruptly entered the Assembly main hall at around 3 p.m. in a move to railroad the bill without giving prior notice to the opposition parties. Upon hearing of the snap session, some 40 lawmakers from the DP and minor opposition parties rushed to the hall to protest against deputy speaker Chung Ui-hwa who tabled the bill for a vote.

Rep. Kim Sun-dong of the minor progressive Democratic Labor Party set off a tear gas canister pointed toward the speaker’s seat in protest of the move.

Shortly after the commotion, Chung put the trade pact to a vote in the close-door session and lawmakers passed it.