The ruling Saenuri Party has come up with a sweeping set of reform proposals to curtail privileges and benefits for lawmakers and hold them to higher ethical standards.
The party said the package is designed to implement its pledges made for the April parliamentary election. It is desirable for a political party to try to put into practice its election promises to the public.
The package contains six proposals, including scrapping lawmakers’ immunity from arrest, reforming their much criticized retirement pension program, and banning lawmakers from moonlighting.
The other three proposals call for introducing a “no-work-no-pay” system for legislators, toughening punishment for violence in parliament, and putting non-lawmaker members on a parliamentary ethics committee.
The party’s lawmakers are discussing these proposals in a two-day workshop that started Friday. A heated debate is expected as the proposals require a renunciation of privileges.
Yet if the lawmakers agree to execute the proposals, it would definitely help the party woo voters in the December presidential election. As such, we expect the main opposition Democratic United Party to present its own package to reduce lawmakers’ perks.
Under the Constitution, lawmakers have imunity from arrest while the parliament is in session. This privilege was introduced in the old days when lawmakers faced threats of retribution from the executive branch for certain votes. It is outdated as lawmakers these days do not face such threats. Today legislators tend to abuse the clause as a means of evading arrest for the crimes they have committed.
The retirement pension plan for lawmakers has elicited outcry as it pays 1.2 million won a month to a lawmaker, regardless of the length of their tenure, after they reach the age of 65. It remains to be seen whether the Saenuri lawmakers will decide to kill it as demanded by the public.
The proposal to ban lawmakers from side work, such as practicing law and medicine and holding outside directorships at corporations, is intended to prevent them from acting as a lobbyist for their professions. Lawmakers engaged in other jobs tend to put their personal interests before national interests.
The “no-work-no-payment” principle is aimed at making lawmakers more productive. Under it, no allowances will be paid to lawmakers when the Assembly stops normal operation for illegitimate reasons.
The new National Assembly began its four-year term on May 30, but it has passed the June 5 opening date set out in the law. Lawmakers of the ruling and opposition parties need to make strict observance of the law their highest order of the day.
