Saenuri Party rejects Moon's call for leaders' meeting

Rep. Moon Hee-sang, interim leader of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy, speaks at a press conference on Sunday where he proposed that a meeting be held between the leaders of the two main rival parties to break the political deadlock in the National Assembly. / Yonhap

By Yi Whan-woo

The ruling Saenuri Party has turned down a proposal from Moon Hee-sang, interim leader of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD), for talks to be held between the leaders of the parties.

Moon offered earlier on Sunday to meet Saenuri Party chairman Kim Moo-sung to discuss ways of normalizing the deadlocked National Assembly. He also urged to pass some 90 bills and proposal stalled in the parliament as soon as possible, starting from Oct.1.

The ruling party said the NPAD should instead comply with National Assembly Speaker Chung Ui-wha’s call to convene a full plenary session on Tuesday.

“Chung already asked to hold the plenary session and the opposition party should attend this first,” said Saenuri Party floor spokesman Rep. Lee Jang-woo.

Lee also pointed out that it was Moon had called for a delay in the session, which was initially scheduled on Friday. Back then, the NPAD interim leader said his party needed time to discuss possible solutions to settle the dispute over a controversial special bill aimed at uncovering the cause of the Sewol ferry disaster in April.

“We regard Moon’s move as a political strategy that is deceiving the National Assembly and the people,” Lee said.

The Saenuri Party said it would not talk with the NPAD until Tuesday, adding that such meetings were “unnecessary.”

Friday’s plenary session closed after opening for nine minutes.

Chung convened the meeting to pass about 90 bills amid wrangling between the rival parties. However, the NPAD boycotted the session and only 153 lawmakers from the ruling party attended.

With more than half the 300 National Assembly members present, the Saenuri Party had enough members to pass all bills unilaterally. But Chung urged that the session be postponed until this week.

The parliamentary dispute centers on a proposed Sewol ferry bill that calls for an independent investigation into the sinking of the vessel that left more than 300 passengers dead or missing. Critics claim the government’s bungled emergency response led to the high death toll.

The NPAD has spoken on behalf of the victims’ families. And it has demanded the establishment of a fact-finding committee that can investigate and indict those responsible for the tragedy.

President Park Geun-hye and the ruling party have rejected the demand on the grounds that it could undermine the judicial system.