Ruling party railroads next year's budget bill(korea)

Rep. Hong Young-pyo of the main opposition Democratic Party, center, in blue shirt, scales the podium of the National Assembly’s main chamber in a bid to block proceedings as the ruling Grand National Party railroaded its 2011 budget through parliament, Wednesday. / Korea Times DP accuses Cheong Wa Dae, GNP of 'destroying' parliamentary democracy By Lee Tae-hoon The National Assembly passed next year’s budget of 309.1 trillion won ($270.2 billion), up 5.5 percent from 2010, Wednesday, in a vote of 165 to one, amid strong protests from opposition lawmakers. The governing Grand National Party (GNP) rammed through the spending plan and dozens of pending bills in a plenary session, including proposals to dispatch some 150 troops to the United Arab Emirates and encourage development projects within 2 kilometers of the nation’s major river banks. Opposition lawmakers boycotted the vote as they were physically removed from the chairman’s podium of the Assembly’s main chamber by legislators of the GNP, which controls 171 seats in the 299-member legislature. Lee Jung-hee, chairwoman of the Democratic Labor Party, was taken to hospital after losing consciousness during a fierce scuffle with GNP female lawmakers. Opposition parties vowed to stage rallies that call for annulling all of the 41 bills that the ruling party unilaterally passed. Earlier in the day, the GNP passed the spending plan for fiscal year 2011 in just three minutes at the Assembly Special Committee on Budget and Accounts, without DP lawmakers in attendance. Hours after the swift passage of the budget bill at the standing committee, GNP legislators and their aides fought violently with lawmakers of the opposition parties and their aides, who attempted to block the GNP’s entry into the main hall of the Assembly for a floor meeting. The DP accused Cheong Wa Dae and the GNP of “crumbling” parliamentary democracy, saying they derided due legal proceedings and minority opinions. “The authoritarian Lee Myung-bak administration revealed its true colors,” DP Chairman Sohn Hak-kyu said, raising suspicion that Cheong Wa Dae orchestrated the ruling party’s unexpected railroading of the bill. “This can’t be called politics. It’s a coup.” DP floor leader Park Jie-won blamed Assembly Speaker Park Hee-tae for allegedly failing to maintain political neutrality as parliamentary leader. ``Speaker Park made disgraceful decisions upon Cheong Wa Dae’s instruction without any consultation with opposition leaders,” he said. Park invoked his right to restore order at the legislature to drive out people blocking the GNP’s entry to the main chamber and some 50 opposition lawmakers occupying the podium. Former DP Chairman Chung Sye-gyun criticized passing the budget bill without properly deliberating it with opposition parties. “The Lee administration has abandoned democracy and began to walk the path of dictatorship and fascism,” he said. “It was the worst budget review ever in the 60 year history of the Assembly." The GNP, however, dismissed their claims, saying it could no longer tolerate the opposition’s “tactic” to procrastinate the deliberation of the bill for a politician compromise over the government’s spending plan for major government initiatives. The conservative party argued that it had to pass the bill in respect of the Constitution, which stipulates the Dec. 2 deadline for the endorsement of the budget bill. “We could no longer tolerate opposition parties’ delay tactics,” Kim Moo-sung, floor leader of the GNP, said. Kim added that opposition parties intentionally delayed the parliamentary procedure for political gains in an attempt to derail major state projects, such as the four-river refurbishment project.

leeth@koreatimes.co.kr