National Assembly impasse puts on hold major legislative affairs
- 6 years ago
Yesterday lawmakers called off a planned speech by the prime minister, who was going to urge them to act on the government's proposed extra spending bill.
Today Rival parties have still found no way forward on issues like amending the Constitution.
Kim Min-ji has the latest from parliament.
No sign of a let up in the impasse at South Korea's parliament.
A three-day interpellation session at the National Assembly scheduled to begin on Tuesday has been put on hold.
That was unexpected... since the agenda was set back in late March... when the parties agreed to hold a parliament session in April,... and given that it was to address major issues... such as the inter-Korean summit... and the government's extra budget proposal.
Since the start of the April session last Monday, the Assembly has been at a standstill.
The parties are at odds over how to amend the Constitution,... and divided over how to revise the Broadcast Act to strengthen neutrality.
Adding fuel to the fire,... a controversy surrounding the chief of the Financial Supervisory Service, Kim Ki-sik, has set the parties even further apart.
Kim has been under fire for trips he took overseas sponsored by financial institutions while he was a lawmaker.
Although he denied giving them any preferential treatment in return,... the opposition parties have demanded a prosecutorial probe into the matter.
For now, it seems the paralysis will linger for some time,... with parties sticking to the blame game.
The impasse casts a dark cloud over whether the rival parties can get through the stack of agendas -- such as the legal procedures for holding a referendum on Constitutional revision in tandem with local elections in June... as well as deliberating the government's extra budget bill.
Some pundits say that should the rival parties leave the session like this -- getting no work done -- they will be subject to harsh public criticism.
At the end of the day,... all sides will have to make concessions -- but the question is exactly when and which party will make the first move.
Kim Min-ji, Arirang News.
Today Rival parties have still found no way forward on issues like amending the Constitution.
Kim Min-ji has the latest from parliament.
No sign of a let up in the impasse at South Korea's parliament.
A three-day interpellation session at the National Assembly scheduled to begin on Tuesday has been put on hold.
That was unexpected... since the agenda was set back in late March... when the parties agreed to hold a parliament session in April,... and given that it was to address major issues... such as the inter-Korean summit... and the government's extra budget proposal.
Since the start of the April session last Monday, the Assembly has been at a standstill.
The parties are at odds over how to amend the Constitution,... and divided over how to revise the Broadcast Act to strengthen neutrality.
Adding fuel to the fire,... a controversy surrounding the chief of the Financial Supervisory Service, Kim Ki-sik, has set the parties even further apart.
Kim has been under fire for trips he took overseas sponsored by financial institutions while he was a lawmaker.
Although he denied giving them any preferential treatment in return,... the opposition parties have demanded a prosecutorial probe into the matter.
For now, it seems the paralysis will linger for some time,... with parties sticking to the blame game.
The impasse casts a dark cloud over whether the rival parties can get through the stack of agendas -- such as the legal procedures for holding a referendum on Constitutional revision in tandem with local elections in June... as well as deliberating the government's extra budget bill.
Some pundits say that should the rival parties leave the session like this -- getting no work done -- they will be subject to harsh public criticism.
At the end of the day,... all sides will have to make concessions -- but the question is exactly when and which party will make the first move.
Kim Min-ji, Arirang News.