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| Lawmakers of the main opposition United Future Party (UFP) walk out of a plenary session of the National Assembly, Thursday, to protest the ruling Democratic Party of Korea's (DPK) unilateral passing of contentious real estate bills. Only the DPK and some other minor progressive party members took part in the voting and passed the bills to allow tenants to renew their housing lease contracts by up to two more years, with 185 voting for the bills and two abstaining. Yonhap |
By Jung Da-min
Concerns are growing over the frequent railroading of controversial bills by the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) without enough time for them to be discussed at the National Assembly, with the ruling party giving the excuse that the bills are related to "urgent issues."
Calling such moves "autocratic," opposition parties claim the ruling bloc is ruining democracy by taking advantage of its supermajority status, holding 176 among the Assembly's 300 seats.
At a plenary session of the Assembly, Thursday, the DPK passed two of three real estate bills, which are aimed at enhancing tenants' rights in the wake of soaring housing prices, with the remaining one likely to be passed at an upcoming plenary session to be held next Tuesday.
The bills had been passed at relevant standing committee meetings over the two days prior to the plenary session, also by the ruling party.
The bills were passed despite protest from the main opposition United Future Party (UFP) and the minor opposition Justice Party.
The two opposition parties requested the committees ensure they have enough time to fully discuss the issues by organizing subcommittees and having relevant government officials explain the issues to them ― a process which usually takes place before passage of a bill.
But the DPK refused, saying the real estate issue is urgent and needs to be addressed as soon as possible. The UFP boycotted the committee meetings as a result, saying the DPK did not observe due process, and the DPK, with its own members alone, passed the bills. The heads of the committees presiding over the meetings were also all DPK members.
The ruling party also passed another three bills at the House Steering Committee, Wednesday, on a special investigative body to look into corruption by high-ranking officials and their family members, also despite the UFP's opposition. UFP members walked out of the committee meeting room in protest of the DPK's "autocracy."
The DPK also pushed the approval of Lee In-young as unification minister and Park Jie-won as director of the National Intelligence Service, without consultation or negotiation with the UFP. Following confirmation hearings for them, the UFP said both were unqualified for the positions, but the DPK approved the nominations by unilaterally holding relevant committee meetings.
The UFP is criticizing the DPK for undermining the separation of powers between the legislative and administrative branches while making the Assembly follow the government "blindly." It is discussing how to respond to what it calls a "legislative dictatorship," even considering boycotting all Assembly sessions in the future.
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| Main opposition United Future Party members condemn the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK)'s unilateral legislative actions during a party meeting at the National Assembly, Thursday. They all wore ribbons which read "DPK: Abuse of power, Collapse of democracy." Yonhap |
The minor opposition Justice Party attended the plenary session on Thursday but said its attendance was not a show of support for the DPK and criticized the ruling party for its unilateral handling of the bills.
"We strongly call on the DPK to improve its mishandling of legislative processes to prevent further totalitarian actions by the ruling party, so that laws established at the National Assembly could secure procedural justification," Justice Party spokesman Kim Jong-chul said.
On such criticism, DPK leader Lee Hae-chan said, "The speed was more important than having additional discussions when the three bills on real estate and other bills had already been discussed since the 20th National Assembly."
However, even some DPK members raised questions over the procedural problem.
"The people gave us 176 seats as they wanted us to cooperate with the opposition parties, not to push ahead with what we want by taking advantage of the supermajority position. The current situation is not desirable," Rep. Noh Woong-rae of the DPK said in a radio show, Thursday.
