野 "특검법 공동발의" vs 與 '국회선진화법' 헌법소원 추진

Published : Nov 12, 2013 - 17:58 Updated : Nov 12, 2013 - 17:58

김한길 민주당 대표, 천호선 정의당 대표, 무소속 안철수 의원 등 정치권, 시민사회, 종교계, 학계 참석자들이 12일 오전 서울 종로구 세종문화회관 세종홀에서 열린 '국정원 군 등 국가기관의 선거개입 진상규명과 민주헌정질서 회복을 위한 각계 연석회의'에서 기념촬영을 위해 손을 맞잡고 있다. (연합뉴스)

12일 민주당과 정의당, 무소속 안철수 의원 등 야권의 단일안 형태로 국정원 등 국가기관의 불법 대선 개입 의혹 규명을 위한 특검법안이 공동발의될 예정인 가운데 새누리당은 다수당의 법률안 단독 처리를 어렵게 한 이른바 ‘국회 선진화법’의 위헌성 여부를 적극 검토키로 하면서 정치권의 긴장이 고조되고 있다.

새누리당은 이르면 이달 중 헌법소원 심판청구를 비롯한 법률적 조치 여부를 결정할 계획인 것으로 전해졌다.

당내 '국회법 정상화 TF' 위원장인 주호영 의원은 이날 회의 직후 기자회견에서 "선진화법에 대한 위헌법률심판이나 헌법소원 심판청구에 대한 구체적 법리 검토를 더욱 집중적으로 하기로 했다"고 말했다.

주 의원은 "야당이 선진화법을 무기로 의사일정을 전면 중단하고 법안이나 예산 안과도 연계해서 국회를 파행으로 몰고 갈 수 있다는 가능성을 내보이고 있어 적극적으로 검토할 필요가 있다는데 의견이 모아졌다"고 전했다.

앞서 지난해 여야는 상임위에서 위원 5분의 3 이상의 동의가 없으면 법률안을 통과시킬 수 없도록 국회법을 개정한 바 있다.

이와 함께 야당의 반대로 법률안 통과가 불가능한 상황도 국회 선진화법의 예외로 포함시키는 방향으로 법 개정을 추진 중인 것으로 알려졌다.

한편, 통합진보당을 뺀 야권 정치세력과 시민사회•종교계 인사들로 이뤄진 '국가기관 의 대선 개입 사건 진상규명과 민주헌정질서 회복을 위한 범야권 연석회의'는 12일 서울 세종문화회관에서 열린 첫 회의에서 특검 추진 태스크포스(TF)를 발족하기로 합의하고 논의에 착수키로 했다.

민주당 전병헌 원내대표도 이날 연석회의에 앞서 국회에서 열린 원내대책회의에서 "정의당, 안 의원과 함께 특검법안 공동발의를 추진하겠다"고 밝혔다.

전 원내대표의 공동발의 제안에 대해 정의당과 안 의원측도 긍정적 입장을 밝힘 에 따라 연석회의내 TF를 통해 야권 단일안 마련 작업이 탄력을 받게 될 것으로 점쳐진다.

<관련 영문 기사>

Rival parties raise stakes in NIS row

By Lee Joo-hee

Political tensions escalated Tuesday as opposition parties allied in seeking a special probe into alleged election interference by state agencies, while the ruling party struck back by pushing for a law revision to curb minority obstructionism.

The ruling Saenuri Party is reportedly moving to revise the National Assembly act to allow certain bills to be exempted from the rule that requires at least 60 percent of the relevant standing committee members’ approval for passage.

The move came as the opposition forces including independent Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo agreed in principle to jointly submit a bill to launch an independent probe into the alleged illegal interference by state institutions in last year’s presidential election.

The “pan-progressive alliance” comprised of religious and non-governmental groups as well as the main opposition Democratic Party and the minor opposition Progressive Justice Party decided in their first meeting Tuesday to start a taskforce to push for the special investigation.

“We will be seeking joint submission of the bill for the independent probe together with the PJP and Rep. Ahn,” said DP floor leader Rep. Jun Byung-hun.

But Ahn, who had first suggested the special probe last week, distanced himself from the stauncher DP position by saying the probe should be irrelevant to the on-going parliamentary schedule. Observers, nonetheless, forecast that the opposition alliance may be the start of a new opposition force in the run-up to next year’s local elections in June.

The Saenuri Party charged that the opposition was hindering the smooth process of pending livelihood-related bills and indicated its measure to revise the Assembly act was inevitable. In May last year, the National Assembly passed the so-called “National Assembly advancement law” aimed at preventing violence from disrupting the legislative process by enabling a filibuster and tightening the quorum for votes.

The Saenuri Party said it would decide on legal measures including requesting a review by the Constitutional Court of the constitutionality of the relevant laws within this month.

“We have agreed that there is a need to actively pursue the review as there is a chance that the opposition will bring the Assembly to a halt by using the rules to suspend the parliamentary procedure and hold bills and the budget captive,” said Rep. Joo Ho-young, head of the taskforce created in September.

The party is expected to move towards revising the law to enable the majority party to unilaterally vote on certain bills. The move, however, is expected to face vehement criticism not only from opposition forces but also from reform-minded members of the party.

The DP slammed the move as “denying the basic frame and value of democracy.”

“It shows that the Saenuri Party was simply putting on a show in last year’s parliamentary election by spearheading the ‘advancement law’ as their party pledge,” said DP’s senior spokesman Rep. Kim Kwan-young.

Protesting what they called bias in the prosecution’s investigation into the leak of the 2007 inter-Korean summit transcript and alleged electioneering by NIS officials, the DP has vowed to boycott all parliamentary processes including the budget review, except for scheduled hearings.

The opposition alliance decided to seek an investigation into the government agencies’ election interference, any attempt to conceal the facts and pressure placed on the prosecution team’s investigation. The former prosecutor general and the head prosecutor on the NIS investigation team have been forced to resign and have received reprimand, respectively, which the opposition claims is an example of government’s interference. The DP, in particular, is also pushing to include the summit transcript case in the independent probe as well.

The independent probe bill, however, still requires a vote by the parliament where the Saenuri Party holds the majority of seats.

The progressive alliance also demanded the immediate resignation of presidential Chief of Staff Kim Ki-choon and Justice Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn.

Meanwhile, former aides to former President Roh Moo-hyun on Monday apologized to the people for the transcript misplacement controversy.

In a press release, the Roh Moo-hyun Foundation said, “We deeply regret that, despite it being unintentional, the final version was not transferred to the presidential archives, and that it prompted unnecessary debate.”

The prosecution believes that the original version was not transferred at the end of the Roh administration and that significant revisions were made in the final version that was found in the electronic archive system.

(jhl@heraldcorp.com)