[Editorial] Get back to the Assembly

President Lee signs into law today the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement which was ratified a week ago. The regular session of the National Assembly stays idle as opposition parties are boycotting it in protest of the government party’s unilateral passage of the FTA bill, claiming it as “null and void.”

If opposition lawmakers do not turn up in the Assembly hall by Friday, the deliberation of the national budget will pass the legal deadline again this year. This legislative abnormality has been repeated since 2008.

There are opinions among some practically-minded members of the main opposition Democratic Party who suggest that the Korea-U.S. FTA protest be separated from the 2012 budget screening. They argue that the current boycotting is pushing the ruling party to use its majority to pass the budget bill without a comprehensive review, and that the opposition parties will consequently be unable to make any reduction to the 326 trillion won ($290 billion) government spending plan.

It is understandable that the oppositionists cannot go back to the Assembly “as if nothing had happened,” while the GNP makes no response to their demand for a series of “corrective actions.” They requested that negotiation over the “investor-state dispute” clause start immediately with the United States, the GNP apologize for ramming the bill through the Assembly and it promise no such unilateral action again.

But the oppositionists need to be more realistic. A fait accompli is a fait accompli ― more so when a treaty with a foreign government is concerned. And the majority of the people understand that the administration and the ruling party had made great efforts to seek a compromise before they resorted to using its majority in the legislature.

It is not only the budget that awaits Assembly deliberation. A number of economic and social affairs bills affecting diverse areas of people’s lives also need to be addressed. The budget bill itself contains items related to local projects that Assemblymen either from the ruling or opposition parties are most interested in. If they neglected them, they will face individual difficulties in their constituencies next year.

We would suggest that opposition parties take part in budget screening at the subcommittee level for preliminary adjustment of figures to reflect the positions of parties even while the FTA protests go on. And then parties should try to strike a deal for the whole budget bill to prove their political latitude that they can compromise despite disagreements.