The months-long deadlock over the passage of key disputed bills triggered a new point of dispute amid political parties ― whether or not to lower the current parliamentary quorum for the sake of efficiency.

The ruling Saenuri Party, which has been increasingly vocal on passing the pending bills, called for lowering the three-fifths quorum and an expansion of the parliamentary speaker’s discretion to table a bill without bipartisan consent.

The main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea, struggling to block the ruling camp’s efforts, denounced the revision effort as undemocratic and self-contradictory.
 

“It is time to consider the revision of the National Assembly Advancement Act, which has regressed into a political weapon in the hands of the stubborn opposition bloc,” said Saenuri spokesperson Lee Jang-woo on Sunday.

Rep. Moon Jeong-lim, another spokesperson, criticized the opposition party for playing partisan games and neglecting its lawmaking duties.

As a revision bill of the advancement act also requires three-fifths parliamentary consent for passage, the ruling party expects parliamentary speaker Rep. Chung Ui-hwa to exercise his authority and introduce the bill at a general meeting floor.

“(Chung) asserted in the past that the advancement bill needs some revision,” said party leader Kim Moo-sung, pushing the speaker to make a legislative exception for this case.

Rep. Chung, known for his legislative principles and political impartiality, agreed that the current process needs to be relaxed to a certain extent, but still refused to push ahead with the change on his own accord.

“(The revision) is something that the current National Assembly should achieve within its term,” he said.

“But I believe that the use of the speaker’s power should be kept to the minimum at all times.”

The much disputed parliamentary act was introduced back in 2012 as an effort to eradicate violent protests by lawmakers at the National Assembly and to reinforce the legislative process.

The law stated that a three-fifths quorum is necessary to pass a bill and also limited the parliamentary speaker’s rights to lay a bill on his or her own authority.

As a result, even the ruling party has been unable to push ahead with a bill unless it secured a sweeping majority of 180 seats or more in the 300-seat Assembly.

But a major challenge for the ruling bloc is that this parliamentary procedural act, which it is striving to relax by any means, is considered a major legislative legacy of President Park Geun-hye.

The Grand National Party, the former body of the Saenuri Party, found itself in a fix in 2011-2012 after years of forcing the passage of bills and violence in the house. By spearheading the parliamentary advancement act, then-emergency council chief Park won herself extra credits as a potential state leader.

It is also for this reason that the opposition camp is hammering the ruling party for being self-contradictory.

“It was the ruling party that motioned the (parliamentary advancement) bill in the first place,” said Rep. Park Soo-hyun, floor spokesperson of the Minjoo Party.

By Bae Hyun-jung (tellme@heraldcorp.com)