People’s Party needs to prove its worth

It has to be noted that a supplementary budget was even passed the National Assembly during the more chaotic times of the Korean War. Now for the first time since the constitution came into effect, the National Assembly may fail to pass the extra budget due to the political gridlock. The major opposition Minjoo Party said Monday that the party has no intent to pass the additional budget in the absence of public hearings over restructuring of shipbuilding and marine engineering sectors to question former Deputy Prime Minister Choi Kyung-hwan and senior presidential secretary for policy coordination An Chong-bum. The ruling Saenuri Party is not displaying any hint of reconciliation to continue the review of the supplementary budget either. “Hardliners of the pro-Roh faction, close to former President Roh Moo-hyun, is shaking up the foundation of parliamentarism,” said Rep. Chung Jin-suk, the floor leader of the Saenuri Party. Rep. Park Jie-won, the interim leader of the People’s Party, has proposed an arbitration measure to tackle the current stalemate, by saying, “The Budget and Account Committee of the National Assembly should continue its review of the government’s request for additional budget, while we continue negotiation on the witness list for the hearing.” Park's proposal is expected to be a breakthrough for the current deadlock.

If the National Assembly does not pass the supplementary budget, it will likely interrupt the government’s fiscal plan for the coming quarters and eventually the economy will be hit hard. The government needs to get the momentum to push ahead its plan to utilize extra funds to help support employment of an estimated 50,000 retirees in the shipbuilding sector, job growth for the youth, subsidies for low-income families and fiscal reinforcement of local communities. Without any sign of progress for the supplementary budget at the National Assembly, however, the government may not be able to develop its budgetary plan of 400 trillion won for 2017. It is not an exaggeration for experts to say that, in the worst-case scenario, the growth rate will drop around the low 2 percent range.

The ruling and opposition parties all agree that the supplementary budget is an urgent agenda to be resolved at the National Assembly. However, the Saenuri Party should be blamed for its overprotection of Choi and An. The ruling party is definitely going against the public sentiment that the party is trying to exclude key officials from the list of witness for the hearings who made a decision to inject some 4.2 trillion won (3.75 billion U.S. dollars) of public funds to troubled Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. at a confidential meeting held at the presidential office of Cheong Wa Dae last November. At the same time, the main opposition Minjoo Party has been irresponsible of not giving any options available to continue negotiation on the witness list. Its negligence is reminiscent of the 19th National Assembly where the ruling and opposition parties never compromised on any major issues, which gave it a dishonorable nickname “infertile National Assembly.”

“There will be no future for Korea if the two biggest parties continue to take majority seats,” Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo, former chairman of the People's Party, said during the inauguration ceremony of the party. The People’s Party has become the third biggest party after the April general elections by earning 38 seats with an approval rate of 26.7 percent. The party should remember that one of the secrets behind the People’s Party’s ascending was the angry sentiment of the public toward the biggest two parties who never stop fighting while being ignorant of the livelihood of the public. Unfortunately, the supporting rate for the People’s Party dropped sharply to 10 percent amid the scandal over rebates for election campaign and the opposition to the THAAD deployment issue, according to Gallup Korea’s regular survey last week. The Park Geun-hye administration and the Saenuri Party are being muddled after the Woo Byung-woo scandal and pro-park loyalists, including Saenuri's new leader Lee Jung-hyun, taking a control of the new leadership. The Minjoo Party is taking a hardline and clearness approach preparing for its convection on this coming Saturday. Against the backdrop, this could be a golden chance for the People’s Party to prove why it is needed in Korea’s political landscape.

박제균논설위원 phark@donga.com