The ruling Saenuri Party has selected 111 bills it plans to act on during the June extra session the National Assembly is opening on Monday. Among those being given priority are 10 bills submitted to advance President Park Geun-hye’s economic agenda, including bills on the promotion of information and communication technology, ventures and technological innovation for small and medium-sized business enterprises.

Rep. Choi Kyung-hwan, the new floor leader of the Saenuri Party, says his party will focus on an early economic recovery and the provision of job openings ― the primary economic issues of concern to the president ― during the 30-day session.

For its part, the main opposition Democratic Party desires to deal with 98 bills it has submitted in the past. Of those, it plans to push for the passage of 34 bills, including those designed to address the problem of contractual inequality between lessor and lessee, franchiser and franchisee and client and supplier.

Rep. Jun Byung-hun, the new floor leader of the Democratic Party, says he will push for what is called economic democracy ― a phrase referring to the establishment of more equitable business relations between the strong such as large corporations and the weak such as small suppliers to big businesses. In response, Rep. Choi promises to support the bills on economic democracy. Yet, he believes it should be promoted to the extent it does not dampen corporations’ business activities.

Also at issue are the political reform promises the rival parties made during the run-up to the Dec. 19 presidential election. Most prominent among them are the promises to renounce some of the privileges accorded to lawmakers.

They include tightening the rules against the holding of additional jobs by lawmakers, putting an end to the provision of pension payments to former lawmakers, taking disciplinary action against lawmakers resorting to the use of violence on the floor, and revising the rules on parliamentary confirmation hearings. During the past six months, the two parties have taken few concrete measures to deliver on the promises.

Nor has either of them been moving to ban political parties from selecting nominees for election to the post of municipality mayor and municipal councils. But they should be reminded that such a ban has been demanded by the electorate, with political parties and lawmakers often suspected of making money-for-nomination deals.

The extra parliamentary session opening on Monday, the first since the election of Rep. Choi and Rep. Jun as floor leaders, should serve as an opportunity for them to prove their mettle at a time when lawmakers are reluctant to part with their privileges.