Clash looms over Assembly law

Saenuri Party floor leader Rep. Yoo Seong-min, right, speaks to his main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy counterpart Rep. Lee Jong-kul during an event at the National Assembly in Seoul, Friday to celebrate the 67th anniversary of the opening of the Assembly. / Yonhap

By Kang Seung-woo

Cheong Wa Dae and the ruling Saenuri Party clashed Friday over a possible revision to the National Assembly Law.

The presidential office denounced the revision, saying it was “against the constitutional separation of powers” by giving the Assembly too much say on government and presidential policies.

However, the Saenuri Party struck back at Cheong Wa Dae, describing its concerns as “over-interpretation.”

“The revision of the law to allow parliament to review the content of administrative legislation and revise government ordinances may breach the principle of the separation of powers,” said Kim Sung-woo, the senior presidential secretary for public relations, at a briefing.

“Given that the National Assembly can control the government issuing ordinances, its administrative function may come to a near standstill,” Kim said.

The rival parties agreed to revise the law earlier in the day, when coincidently approving a bill to reform the debt-laden civil servant pension.

Kim added, “We urge the National Assembly to review the revision rather than pursuing political gains before sending the revised bill to the government.”

The presidential office even hinted at the possible use of a presidential veto, which may worsen bilateral relations.

“We will comprehensively review various possibilities,” Kim said.

In the wake of the condemnation, Saenuri Party floor leader Yoo Seong-min said there was much misunderstanding about the revised bill.

“Any possible conflict between the law and an ordinance is judged by the Supreme Court and there is nothing wrong when it comes to the separation of powers,” Yoo told reporters at the National Assembly.

“The National Assembly will amend government ordinances that fail to comply with the law, not every single one. Cheong Wa Dae gave an over-interpretation to the revision.”

Yoo added that it is an excessive concern that possible abuse of parliamentary law will prevent the government from performing its tasks.

New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) floor leader Lee Jong-kul backed Yoo, saying, “The revision is good enough to fulfill the spirit of the Constitution.”

The conflict was already evidenced by the indefinite delay of a meeting between Cheong Wa Dae and the ruling party, scheduled for Sunday, but both sides declined to comment on who first asked for the adjournment.

The main opposition party pushed for the revision in a bid to change the controversial ordinance on the investigation into the cause of last year’s tragic Sewol ferry sinking that left 304 people dead.

The presidential secretary accused politicians ― more precisely the NPAD ― of incorporating issues for their own political ends irrelevant to the pension reform in reward for passing the bill during bipartisan negotiations.

“They came up with ideas related to the National Pension Fund, a corporate tax hike, the dismissal of the welfare minister and the Sewol special law,” Kim said.

“The set of actions are far from the initial intent of the reform plan and disregard the people’s livelihood.”

Meanwhile, the pension reform bill was approved 233-0 with 13 abstentions, with the parties wrapping up seven months of wrangling over the issue ― a key one for the Park administration along with the overhaul of the labor market. Park also wants to reform the finance and education sectors.

However, the Assembly failed to pass nine economy-related bills, including one for the creation of jobs for young adults.