The operations of the National Assembly have been normalized as the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy ended its boycott of parliamentary sessions over the government’s push for state-designated history textbooks.
The opposition party’s decision to return to the National Assembly is well-advised, given the long list of urgent national tasks lawmakers have to deal with without further delay.
Legislators have about a month left until the end of the 100-day regular parliamentary session, the last before their four-year term expires next May. They are reminded that how the 19th National Assembly is evaluated depends largely on their performance during this crucial period.
Lawmakers have to deliberate on a host of important bills that would make or break the national economy. For instance, they have to act on the five labor reform bills intended to shorten work hours, make the labor market more flexible and clearly define “normal” wages.
The importance of these bills cannot be overemphasized in light of the far-reaching effects they would have on individual companies and the national economy.
The seven economic revitalization bills are just as important as the labor reform legislation, if not more so, as they are aimed at injecting fresh vigor into the sluggish Korean economy.
Among them, the one related to the development of service industries is of particular importance, given the growing need for Korea to cultivate the services sector to offset the dwindling role of manufacturing industries in driving the economy forward.
But the bill has been gathering dust in the National Assembly for more than three years since it was submitted in July 2012.
The fate of these and other bills is largely in the hands of NPAD lawmakers as the ruling Saenuri Party cannot push them through the Assembly on its own under the present law governing the parliament’s modus operandi.
As such, NPAD legislators could be tempted to hold these bills hostage to win the battle over history textbooks. In fact, announcing the party’s return to the Assembly last Friday, NPAD floor leader Lee Jong-kul pledged to “take all necessary measures until the government and the ruling party give up their decision to introduce state-authored history textbooks.”
NPAD leaders appear to be thinking that their determined fight against state-designated history textbooks would shore up the party’s woeful approval rating and improve its chances at April’s general election.
But the latest Korea Gallup poll shows they are patently wrong. The poll found that those opposed to state-authored history books rose from 42 percent of the respondents in the second week of October to 53 percent in the first week of November.
But the NPAD’s approval rating fell 2 percentage points during the same period to mark 20 percent, the lowest since the inauguration of the party’s chairman Moon Jae-in in February.
In contrast, the ruling party’s popularity gained 2 percentage points from a week earlier to post 41 percent.
NPAD leaders should take the poll outcome seriously and recalibrate their parliamentary strategy during the remainder of the regular session.
The Gallup poll strongly suggests that any attempt to link the passage of important bills to the textbook issue would only backfire. If NPAD lawmakers want to brighten their prospects at the next parliamentary election, they need to behave wisely. The electorate would support them if they put national interests before partisan or personal gains.
