[사설] Sono, who only lets economic and livelihood bills drift and boasts about his power in parliament.

As the Democratic Party of Korea pushes to pass the impeachment bill against Korea Communications Commission Chairman Lee Dong-kwan and two prosecutors, the National Assembly is in turmoil due to a standoff between the ruling and opposition parties, and economic and people’s livelihood bills continue to drift. The Democratic Party’s re-introduction of the bill to impeach Chairman Lee of the Korea Communications Commission and the prosecutor was reported to the plenary session of the National Assembly on the 30th. The Democratic Party decided to vote on the impeachment bill at the plenary session on the 1st and began the process of pushing through it. The People Power Party opposed convening the plenary session on the 30th to the 1st, saying that it was scheduled for the purpose of processing the budget, but National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo accepted the Democratic Party’s request and opened the plenary session. Ruling party lawmakers staged a sit-in protest in front of the National Assembly Speaker’s office, claiming “biased National Assembly operation.” Amid growing conflict between the ruling and opposition parties, 431 bills, including those related to regulatory reform, are pending in the Legislation and Judiciary Committee of the National Assembly. The proposal to suspend the Severe Accident Punishment Act was not submitted to the Legislative and Judiciary Committee due to differences of opinion between the ruling and opposition parties. In addition, the ‘Special Act on High-Level Radioactive Waste Management’ to establish a permanent disposal facility for spent nuclear fuel was not even submitted to the relevant standing committee of the National Assembly.

The idling of the National Assembly is largely due to the large opposition party that continues to run riot. Even though the President was expected to exercise his veto, the Democratic Party pushed ahead with the Nursing Act, the Grain Act Amendment, the Yellow Envelope Act, and the Three Broadcasting Acts. Amid the vicious cycle of the large opposition party’s push for legislation and the president’s veto, bills that urgently need to be passed, such as public welfare and economic bills, were pushed to the back burner. In deliberating next year’s budget, the Democratic Party also played to its own tastes, leading to political strife over the budget. The Democratic Party attempted to reflect the 6 trillion won in project-related budget claimed by Representative Lee Jae-myung while making wild cuts in the government budget.

Nevertheless, the Democratic Party is once again pushing through the impeachment bill for the Korea Communications Commission Chairman and Prosecutor, aiming to stymie state affairs and scare the investigation team into the suspicions surrounding Representative Lee. It was revealed that prosecutors Son Jun-seong and Lee Jeong-seop had copied and pasted the contents of the impeachment bill for Chairman Lee of the Korea Communications Commission and then hastily withdrew it and then submitted a third impeachment bill. This is a clear example of the Democratic Party’s ‘don’t ask’ style of impeachment abuse. The major opposition party must stop bragging about its power by pursuing only political interests and only being conscious of its strong supporters, and actively engage in legislative activities to support economic recovery and support the people’s livelihood. If the National Assembly fails to properly perform its original legislative and budget review functions, the Democratic Party, which has parliamentary power with an overwhelming majority of seats, must take primary responsibility.

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